Balanced
by BrainBrawn
Summary: Everything has an opposite that balances it out. When two girls show up at Bayville High, the Professor is not the only one to detect and want to recruit them. It's a race against the past, present, and the human race's future. Will the Professor find out why Magneto wants the two girls so badly in time?
1. Chapter 1: Newcomers

Chapter 1: Newcomers

Jean Grey P.O.V.

Finally, soccer practice is over. Not that don`t I love the sport, but today was just down right exhausting. I had a AP Calc and a AP Physics test. Plus I had to show two new kids around... Oh crud! I forgot to show them around! The principal entrusted me to show two new kids around and I totally blew it. I totally forgot after Duncan tried to get us back together for the billionth time.

I splashed some cold water in my face from my water bottle. Calm down Jean. You can find some way to make up to the two kids you left totally stranded on their first day at Bayville High tomorrow. If you can find them.

I darted across the track before the kids trying out for track came back around. I looked up at the stands that would be filled with people during a game, expecting them to be completely empty, but they weren't. A single person sat in the stands. Her blond head bent over what appeared to be homework. I walked up the steps to her. I knew pretty much everyone at Bayville High and that shade of hair wasn't familiar to me yet. Her hair was long and had a golden quality to it that reflected the setting sun's rays. The air seemed to get cooler as I got closer to her. Like literally, it got cooler. I wasn't feeling any negativity towards me. I sat down next to her on the bleacher.

"Hi," I started. She looked up at me with her eyes, which were strange but beautiful. They were ocean blue with a hazel ring around the pupil. "I'm Jean Grey, a senior here at Bayville. Are you new?"

She pursed her lips for a second, as if trying to figure out what was safe to say. She must be familiar with bullies or the stereotypical popular kids if she hesitant to say anything. Doesn't take a telepath to figure that out. And judging by her skinny build, she would be an easy target. Though it would be a wonder why kids would bully her. I mean, she looked really pretty in a natural, not really trying kind of way.

"Yeah, today was my first day as a junior at Bayville. My sister and I were supposed to get a tour from someone today, but they never showed." She finally said.

"Oh, sorry. I think your guide was supposed to be me. I got harassed by a guy who used to be my boyfriend and I totally forgot. What's your guys' names?" I apologized.

"My name is RoseMarie Leistungsstarke. My friends call me Rosie and sometimes Rose. My sister is Shadow Leistungsstarke. Her friends call her Shade, and I call her Shady."

"Your last name, is it foreign?"

"Yes, our parents came Rüdesheim, Germany. We were born in Oregon however."

"So, what are you doing here so late? Aren't your parents waiting for you to come home?"

A shadow fell over her pale face. "I'm waiting for my sister to finish trying out for the Track and Field team. As for our parents... they were killed two months ago by a relative that went berserk on them. That's why we moved here. We live at an orphanage nearby."

"Sorry, I hope I didn't reopen any healing wounds. You didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to." I commented softly. I was sorry I asked. I mean, the loss of her parents still must sting, but her and her sister must be incredibly strong to have already moved on with their lives.

"It's okay. I wanted to. I have a feeling I can trust you." She replied, her voice soft.

"What grade is your sister in?"

"Freshman. I can almost guarantee you that she'll make varsity though. That girl was born a jock, just like I was born a nerd."

"Polar opposite, eh?"

"You have no idea." She commented and I sensed an almost double meaning to her words. "Look, here she comes."

A girl, only about an inch shorter than RoseMarie was making her way up the stairs. She in fact was the opposite of RoseMarie. She had short brown hair that was in a pixie cut and long bangs that reached to the right side of her face. Her eyes were dark brown with a black ring around the iris. Where her sister's skin was pale she was caramel tan. The air returned to it's earlier temperature as she drew closer. She had thick muscles and she seemed to climb the bleacher's steps with ease.

"Who's this?" She asked, gesturing towards me once she had reached us.

"This is Jean Grey. She was supposed to be our tour guide today."

"You didn't show." Shadow commented.

"Yeah, and I'm really. I was having boy problems."

Shadow gave me a quick look over with a judgmental look.

Then she said, "Come here real quick." She then preceded to take several steps away from her sister as I followed her. The air started to heat up. Man, what funky weather.

"Look here," she said, "My sister has had issues in the past with popular kids bullying her in the past. You try anything on her and you'll be sorry."

"Don't worry. I may be popular but I'm not a royal jerk like some popular kids I know. I'll try to keep those idiots off your sister's case." I assured her.

The tension on her shoulder visibly vanished. "Thank you. I know this is weird since I'm younger than her, but she's a nerd and a bit of a pacifist at times. I do my best to keep the bullies of her back."

"Is your sister athletic at all?"

"Yeah, she's pretty good at swim and we learned some self-defense, but that's all. She won't even join swim because she says it might interfere with her studies."

"That girl must love to study. It was cool enough a few minutes ago that I would've put away my pencil and tried to keep my hands warm."

"Yeah," Shadow laughed nervously. "Nothing short of a world wide disaster would keep her from her studies."

I laughed with her.

"Well, I've got to go. See you two later. Maybe I can buy you two lunch to make up for my absence today."

"That would be cool. See ya later."

* * *

Scott Summers P.O.V.

The Professor had just called all the high schoolers in for a meeting. My guess is that he might have detected a new mutant at our school, after all, he had just called for high schoolers which means that he probably was going to ask us to keep an eye out for any new mutants at our school.

"They're nice kids, a little cautious, but nice." Jean said as she told me about two new students on our way to the meeting.

"You know, it's kind of weird that you're calling them kids when you're just a year or three years older than them." I teased her.

"Well, it's probably just all that we have gone through. Makes me feel older than I actually am." She joked. Then her expression turned serious. "Though they have gone through a lot recently. Their parents died only a couple of months ago, murdered by another relative."

"Man, that kind of thing leaves you speechless, huh? I never would've known what to say to them."

"I wasn't sure what to say either, but they already seemed to have moved on. They loved their parents though, they must have incredible strength to have stopped mourning already."

We walked past Bobby who was trying to flirt with a younger member of the Institution. The air around him was cooler than the room temperature and I heard him use the line, "Would you like to go out with a cool guy like me?"

I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, "Come on you two, we have a meeting to go to." I commented as I pulled him away.

I looked back at Jean and she had a thoughtful look on her face. "What is it?" I asked.

"It's nothing." She said shaking her head. "Actually, it might be something if the Professor is calling us for a meeting about what I think it might be."

"And that something would be?"

"Two new mutants."

"Two?! Two new ones at the same time? Why would you guess that?" I asked surprised. When new mutants were discovered it was usually only one, not two at the same time.

"I'll explain only at the meeting and only if I'm right."

We fell silent, as we continued our casual walk through the halls to the meeting.

The room where we all were meeting was noisy as ever when all the high schoolers gather in one place. Thankfully, I don't think it was going to get much louder since it looked like we were the last ones to enter, but I forgot that Bobby had just entered the room.

"Hey Amara!" He shouted as he made his way over to talk to her, being as loud as he could be.

I noticed Logan with his usual sneer leaning against a wall nearby and I could only wonder how much time in a room full of loud and obnoxious teenagers he could take. The moment the Professor rolled in things fell silent.

He cleared his throat, "Are we all here? Good. Okay, as most of you have probably assumed by now, this does deal with mutant activity at your school."

Bobby started to scooch towards the door.

"And no, it is not about the mysterious frozen water fountain found at school, yet." Bobby stopped his movement when Logan froze him in place with a single look. "We have detected two new mutant signatures at your school. However, the mutants signatures may be new to your school, they are not new in general. I have detected them before occasionally on the opposite side of the coast. I believe that most of the time they may have been cloaked while over there but now that they are here they have either lost the capability or technology to do so. This causes them to be out in the open and easier to find." He explained.

"Professor?" Jean called.

"Yes, what is it Jean?"

"I may have an idea of who they are. Today I met two new kids from our school. As I drew closer to one the temperature of the air around her seemed to drop, a lot like when Bobby tries one of his "cool" lines. Then when her sister came the air returned to normal. After I apologized for not giving them a tour earlier today the younger one pulled me aside and the air grew hotter. I think the two mutants are them. They appear to be complete polar opposites. One is a nerd, one is a jock. One is a pacifist, the other is hostile. One is an upper classman, the other is a lower classman. One make the air hot, one makes it cold. Together the balance each other out." Jean explained.

Talk about total opposites. It would make sense though. The x-gene is often hereditary and it is common that multiple people from the same bloodline would have an active x-gene.

"See what you can do tomorrow then, Jean."

"Yes, Professor. I have an idea, but I need Bobby and Amara for it to work. You guys have anything planned for lunch tomorrow?" She asked.

"Nope."

"Nada."

"Then I'll see you two at lunch tomorrow."

"Good meeting everyone. You are dismissed." Xavier wrapped up.


	2. Chapter 2: Meetings

Chapter 2: Meetings

Jean Grey P.O.V.

Bobby, Amara, and I were sitting at the table where I told the girls that I would meet them. Luckily, I had run into both of them at some point before lunch. I ran into Shadow in the hall where she was giving a guy a hard time for checking her out. Sure enough, when I got closer to Shadow the air started to heat up. It was even to a higher degree than when she had talked to me yesterday, probably because she was mad. I shared AP Physics with RoseMarie. When I had gone to talk to her about meeting up at lunch the air became cooler.

I ended up hearing the girls coming before I saw them, and I was beginning to wonder how often Rosie was really a pacifist.

"You worry to much, Rosie!" Shadow shouted.

"Yeah? Well excuse me for being the only responsible and level headed one during confrontations!" Rosie snapped.

"All I did was clip his nose a bit!" Shadow retorted.

"Shady, you straight up socked him in the nose! It looked like it was broken! You didn't need to break his nose just because he tried pressuring me!"

"Excuse me for trying to stand up for you! And I thought I told you not to call me Shady!"

"I'll call you Shady if I want to, Shady!"

"Urgh!" Shadow growled as they reached us.

"Um, hey guys." I said as they reached our table.

RoseMarie blushed. "Sorry, did you hear that?"

"I think Alaska heard that." Bobby commented. "By the way, did you really break someone's nose with a single punch?"

Shade puffed out her chest with pride and said, "Sure did. No one messes with my sister and gets away with it."

"You know, sometimes I feel like the younger sibling." RoseMarie pouted.

"I think it should've been that way from the start." Shadow jibed.

"Okay, I'm going to end this conversation before you two turn it into a fist fight." I interrupted. "So, where do you two want to go to eat? I've got my boyfriend's car for this lunch period so we can go about pretty much anywhere, within reason."

The two siblings look at each other, but before they could decide a huge shadow moved over us. They turned their heads and saw what I should've seen a mile away. It was Fred, Pietro, and Lance.

"I think we found the two new mutants that Magneto wants." Pietro commented, eyeing the sisters.

Surprisingly, RoseMarie is the first one to speak up.

"What makes you say that we're mutants? And who's Magneto?" She questioned. I saw a pencil that she was trying to hide from both groups freeze up and become encased in a layer of deadly ice. So, they have had training.

"Well first of all, we think you're mutants because you're hanging out with some X-freaks. They only spend their lunch time with their own kind. As for Magneto, he's the leader of a group of mutants and he thinks that you would be absolutely perfect for the team. So what do you think? You wanna join the winning team?" He asked.

"Absolutely... not." Shadow replied flatly. I saw a small flame dance across her finger tips.

"You don't have much of a choice. When I said Magneto wants you, it means that you're coming with us one way or another." Pietro threatened.

Before the situation turned out into a full out mutant brawl a bulky campus security supervisor came over.

"Is something going on?" He asked.

"Nope. Nothing at all sir. We were just having a nice little chat with the new students here." Pietro lied. I saw the fire on Shadow's finger tips vanish and the ice around RoseMarie's pencil turned to water and fell to the ground in a silent splash. "Well now that the situation is clear... adios." Then he made a quick get away, not a Quicksilver get away mind you, but it was a quick one, along with his friends.

The supervisor seemed to understand his presence here was no longer needed, so he lumbered off to a group of kids who had begun a food fight on the other side of the lunch area.

"So, you two are mutants." I commented as they took a seat across from us.

"And apparently you three are too." Shadow commented. "Were they?"

"Yeah, they're a part of a mutant group called the Brotherhood. Their leader's goal is to eliminate all of the non-mutant people on this planet. He doesn't believe that mutant and human kind can ever live together peacefully, but the Professor does." I explained.

"Who's the Professor?" RoseMarie asked.

"The Professor is the founder of the X-Men. A group of mutants who stop the Brotherhood. He also owns an institute where many mutants live. We learn how to control our powers and that one day mutant kind can peacefully coincide with man kind." Amara explained.

"And let me guess, you guys want us to join you too?" Shadow growled.

"Yes, you would be able to live at the institute and practice your abilities freely there. We are not requiring you to join the X-Men. That is a decision that you can say yes to at any time, if do so choose." I explained. "We could show you the institution after school if that helps any."

"Sure." RoseMarie agreed. "We'll go their after school. Now, about lunch."

* * *

Ororo Munroe P.O.V.

"Ororo?"

I turned from the plant I was watering to see Jean with two girls behind her.

"Yes, Jean? Do you need something?"

"I told these two that I would show them around the institute, but a project came up in class today where I need to meet some friends at school in a few minutes for. Could you show them around?" She asked as the girls eyed me warily before they observed their surroundings.

"Are these two the mutants that Professor Xavier detected?"

"Yes, they are unsure if they are going to join the institute though. And the Brotherhood already attempted to force them to join so earning their trust is important. We really have to show them that we sincere."

The blond girl gently placed her hand on Jean's shoulder. "Jean has already earned our trust. I also want to meet the Professor Xavier that keeps on being brought up."

These girls had a dark past. I can easily tell by their defensive posture and the young blond's tone. This normally would have had me worried, but between the fact that they refused to join the Brotherhood and that they see Jean as a trustworthy friend is enough to put my mind at ease.

"Of course, it would be no problem at all. He likes to speak with all prospective students." I replied. "Now Jean, you better hurry up or you'll be late."

"Yeah, thanks Ororo. Bye guys!" She said before dashing off.

"Bye!" They called in unison.

The tour was quick. I introduced them to many students and I could see them visibly relax as I showed them around and they met friendly faces. Then we came to the last stop.

"This is Professor Xavier's office. I'll leave you guys to speak to him alone."

"Thank you for the tour Miss Ororo. I think we already know what our decision will be, but that decision can easily be undone by your Professor Xavier. We have always had trouble trusting someone with so much power and control." RoseMarie stated.

RoseMarie was always the first to speak. Her sister, Shadow, seemed to always hold back her words, leaving her sister to do the talking. It appeared that RoseMarie was the peacemaker and Shadow was force that either broke it or enforced it. One had a way with words and the other had a way with fist. They were total opposites as Jean had stated at the meeting yesterday. They were complete opposites, but they balanced each other and they gave each other strength.

"I'm sure he will reassure you that coming here is a good choice." I replied, giving them a kind smile before turning to leave.

* * *

RoseMarie Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

I silently opened the door to Professor Xavier's office. A bald man sat in a wheelchair behind an oaken desk.

"I presume that you are Professor Xavier." I commented.

"Indeed I am. Unfortunately, I have not had the privilege to learn your names, though I have heard much about you two." He commented calmly as we took the two seat that were positioned in front of his desk.

"I am RoseMarie Leistungsstarke. My sister here is Shadow Leistungsstarke."

"So you are part German?" He asked.

I was only slightly surprised. Many people could guess that our last name was foreign, but few could guess exactly where it was from.

"We are completely German. Both parents and their parents were German. My sister and I were born in the United States and are legal US citizens. How did you guess that we are German?"

"Simple, I was able to here the strong accent you had when you pronounced your last name. Also, I used to have a friend that was German." He explained. "So, how do you like the institute?"

"I like it. It seems promising enough and you are certainly up to date on the advances in technology." I replied.

"That goes ditto for me. It would feel nice to live somewhere we can be be who we really are, and not hide our abilities." My sister commented.

"Oh, do your parents not know of your abilities?" He asked.

Pain shot through my heart, but I hid it. Shadow and I had to stay strong, or we could very well end up like our parents, dead. It hurt so much, even more so that it was our fault that they were dead.

"They knew, but they aren't alive anymore. We live in an orphanage near the school." I replied. I struggled to keep my powers in check and the air from becoming nippy. I had to match my sister's output of heat or I could very easily turn this room into the next ice age. Our powers seemed to be getting stronger as of late and without our parents and the equipment they had, we could not practice our control over our abilities.

"Ah, that is too bad." He did sound sincere. "What are your abilities?"

He wasn't forcing us to tell him our decision if we were going to move here yet, he purposely was avoiding the topic to give us time to think. How considerate.

"My abilities include control over water and it's many properties. Including when it is in its solid state, ice." I explained.

"I can control fire and its many properties. Including its most powerful form, lava." My sister stated.

"Impressive. I am a high level telepath. I can communicate telepathically with anyone and control people's minds, though I leave that last ability as a last resort in extreme circumstances. I personally do not like using the ability. I also only communicate with an individuals mind, I do not enter it against anyone's will." The man explained.

He genuinely cared about us. He wants to help us and he's telling us all these things to prove it. The Botherhood most likely knew these things already, but what he said only reaffirmed my choice to become a resident here.

"I think we should live here Shade. We won't be alone anymore." I commented.

"I agree."

"Excellent, but there is one complication." The Professor said.

I looked at him with a start.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"In order for you to live here that means I have to gain custody over you two. The first way to do that is for me to become a foster parent, and there is no guarantee that I would receive you two. The second way is that I adopt both of you. I want to know if it is okay for me to do so."

He really did care if he was willing to adopt us just because we needed a better place to stay. After all, he had just met us.

I exchanged a look with my sister and she simply nodded her head.

"Yes, it is okay. I wouldn't mind having a person like you as my legal guardian. Perhaps someday I may even call you father, if that is acceptable." I agreed, reaching my hand out for him to shake it.

"I think I would like that." He chuckled as he shook my hand.


	3. Chapter 3: Settling In

Chapter 3: Settling In

Pietro P.O.V.

The wind rustled a few leaves in the park and I jumped. Man, it's creepy out here at night. I wish my father would hurry up. I could be pickin' up chics right now. I started to rapidly tap my foot.

"Growing impatient are we?" His deep voice asked as he floated out of the shadows.

"A little bit. How long have you been standing, floating, or whatever, over there?"

"Not long, but long enough to see a leaf scare you. No wonder why the X-Men seem to always win."

I scowled at the comment. "We're not scared of them."

"Now, what do you have to report on the girls you found?" He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Look like they're not going to join us. They are already movin' into the institute and I even heard that Xavier adopted them. Doesn't sound like those ladies are comin' with us anytime soon."

Usually father becomes sad, not really sure if he is faking it or not, and then comments on how they are foolish for believing in Xavier's unachievable ideals, but this time he was sent into a rage.

"We need those girls, Pietro!" He declared. "They are the key to reaching our goal! We need them to come to us, willing or not! We need both of them alive and well. They have a power that few can sense and even less can comprehend. Do what you must to get them! Now go!"

I didn't waste time leaving. Last time I did my feet ended up ensnared in a metal waste basket. Why did he want them so badly? Why were those two girls, so opposite from each other, so important?

* * *

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

I looked proudly at my room. It was kind of Hawaiian themed but it got my point across. I like fire and heat. That was my point. My room was almost completely red, except for tiny brown volcano stickers that decorated my room. The carpet was a deep, dark brown and I had torch bowls on stands lined against the walls that lit on fire every time I was in the room, unless I wanted them to be out that is, like when I sleep. My bed frame was composed completely out of shiny obsidian rock that I personally made myself, and that went the same for my desk, bookshelves, dresser, nightstand, and quite a few other things. The bed them was black and red, no, not Harley Quinn style, but definitely the same shades. I had one or two posters of Raph from TMNT. That dude had a fiery temper that I liked.

My room was simple but bold. Just the way I liked it. A lot like fire itself. It is bold but it either gives warmth or incinerates everything in its path. Even when it symbolizes something it represents one of the two.

I wonder how RoseMarie's room was going. Might as well check in on her. I mean, it's not too much of a bother. Her room is in the one next to mine.

When I reached her door, I heard laughter and the song "Let It Go" coming from inside her room. Weird... I wonder if she got a hold of poppy seeds again. For some strange reason every time she ate something with them in it she would break into fits of laughter for hours. Don't know why, we never really had the courage to go to a doctor for it, but it always happened. Even before I was born.

I knocked on her door. "Hey, Rosie! You okay?"

"Yeah! Come on in!"

I opened her door to find her room a winter wonderland. A complex and intricate chandelier hand from her ceiling made completely out of ice. Everything was coated in ice and I swear, if I didn't have a higher than normal body temperature, that I would be freezing my rear end off. As it was it was nippy. Her nightstand had many swirls and intricate designs and was made out of ice. Her bed was an icy blue and was plush and it's frame was made out of ice and it supported a curtain that draped over her bed, sort of like what you would expect someone either royal or really rich to sleep in. Her desk and book shelves were made completely out of ice. She had a lot more bookshelves than me and they were all filled with a variety of books.

Earlier, Xavier had let us go through all the books that no one had wanted or had been owned by mutants who had left or died. I had found a few books I liked, but apparently RoseMarie had found a lot.

I stepped into the room, momentarily forgetting that everything was pretty much coated in ice, and slipped and fell onto my butt.

"Ow! Dang Rosie! Did you have to cover everything in ice?" I snapped as I unsteadily got to my feet, rubbing my butt.

"Did you have to have all that obsidian furniture?" She retorted.

"Well, you can have ice in your room, but I can't have lava. Obsidian is as close as I can get."

"That's because I can keep the water in solid state even when I'm gone, while you can't keep the fire or lava from setting this entire place on fire when you are not attending to it."

"Ah, whatever Miss Genius. It's a work in progress."

"Exactly. Anyway, why did you want to know if I was okay?" She asked, helping me get to her bed, the only thing not made out of or covered in ice, so I could sit on it.

"You were laughing, I thought you got a hold of poppy seeds again." I replied as the soft material cushioned my sore bottom.

"No, I've managed to avoid those strange things for what? Two years now? I guess I'm just finally getting used to the idea that we don't have to hide ourselves 24/7 now. Feels good to not have to make sure both of us have to hide our powers all the time." She said, giving me a pointed look.

"What?! Oh come on, Timmy was asking for it." I objected.

"Just because he stole and tore up one of your posters doesn't mean that he asked for the bathroom doorknob to be heated up sending him to the hospital with a third degree burn!" She scolded.

"He's just going to have a minor scar." I pouted. "No real harm done. And they never found out who did it."

"Ugh!" She grumbled, falling back onto the bed next to me. "You're impossible."

"I know what you mean though. You've worked so hard on keeping us on the down low ever since mom and dad died. It must be hard having the responsibility of both parents, even for a short time, never really getting a chance to be a kid."

"We both never really got the chance to be a kid. Even when we were little it was train train train and hide hide hide. Keeping ourselves fit, in control of our powers, and our abilities a secret from everyone took up a lot of our time. And what time it didn't take schoolwork and sports did. And one little slip, that one little slip, killed our parents. It's all my fault!" She cried, grabbing a pillow to muffle her sobs.

"Oh, not that crud again! RoseMarie, how many times to I have to tell you that it's not your fault?" I scolded. "Just go back to laughing or I'm going to have to stuff a poppy seed muffin down you throat."

Her sobbing did not subsided at my threat, but a knock on the door did. She quickly stood up, rubbed away the tears, and marched towards the door as if nothing had happened. She never cried in front of anyone but me,which was rare... and our parents. I know they sound harsh, but they were really nice. They did what they had to at times to keep us safe and protected from society's would be harmful wrath if they found out.

"Yes?" She asked as she opened the door, revealing a tall man with brown hair and red sunglasses.

"Hi, you must be RoseMarie." He greeted, sticking his hand out for a handshake which my sister quickly gave.

"Yes, that's me. And that's my sister, Shadow, on the bed." She replied, pointing in my direction. "I wouldn't step in here if I were you. My floor is a private skating rink."

"Thanks for the warning." He chuckled. "My name is Scott Summers. The Professor wonders if now would be a good time for you guys to come to the Danger Room to show off your powers."

"That sounds good to me. What about you Shadow?"

"I don't have anything planned for today. I mean, it's a Saturday. I save homework for Sundays."

"Procrastinator." Rosie commented.

"Oh, shut up. You've done it before."

"It's not a weekly thing for me at least." She retorted.

"Jean is right, you two are complete opposites." He chuckled as he shook his head. "So, I'll take that as a yes?"

"Yup, to both. We'll be down there in a few minutes." RoseMarie replied.

"'Kay. See you there."

* * *

Professor Charles Xavier P.O.V.

Now it was time to see what these girls could do, or at least some of it. Their powers sound vast and extensive. I at least needed to see if they had enough control and practice to be on the X-Men as they wanted to be, or if they needed to be with the younger team first.

RoseMarie stood in the center of the danger room, waiting for her cue to start.

"Okay, RoseMarie, you may begin when ready, but before you start please state you desired code name, age, and how long you have had your powers and then set aside your communicator headset." I stated over the speaker phone.

"My desired code name is Yin. I'm sixteen and I've had my powers for ten years." She replied into the communicator. She then promptly set aside her communicator close to the wall before returning to the center of the room.

"Ten years. She received them at such a young age, such a rarity." Beast commented. "It most likely meant that her parents were either mutants themselves or carried the x-gene."

"Yes, that could be the case. Interesting code name. I can guess her sister's." I replied.

"Really? And that would be?"

"Something that you will find out later yourself, old friend. And if you haven't been able to guess it by then you will kick yourself in the pants once you find out exactly what it is. That is, if I'm right."I teased my friend. "Now watch."

RoseMarie was in a strong stance with her legs spread shoulder length apart and a transformation began to come over her. Her skin became sky blue, her eyes white, and her long golden locks became flowing water. Her clothes turned into frothing water and then solidified into an icy costume similar to the one the fictional villain, Posoin Ivy. As if a last minute thought, the X-Men's x formed on the right bosom of her costume. Then she made a step and instead of landing on the ground, about half way the water in the air froze to form a step that looked like a large solitary rose petal and she stepped onto it and she repeated this process until she was level with the control room. There she stopped and with one wave of her hand covered the entire danger room with a thin layer of ice. Then she made some fast motions with her hands and a frozen obstacle course. She quickly and expertly maneuvered through the obstacle course, demonstrating her speed and flexibility. Extreme intelligence was shown when she went through a complicated labyrinth. If she was no where near her sister's athletic ability, than Shadow must be extremely athletic.

Before we knew it the demonstration was over, and the ice turned into water and then rapidly evaporated. Her clothes turned back into a white tank top, a jean jacket, and a black miniskirt.

She promptly exited as her sister entered.

"Okay, Shadow, you may begin when ready, but before you start please state you desired code name, age, and how long you have had your powers and then set aside your communicator headset." I stated over the speaker phone again.

"The code name I want is Yang. I am 14 and I have had my powers for 8 years." Then she repeated the same action her sister had did before she began her demonstration, and set aside the communication headset.

Beast laughed. "You're right Charles, I do want to kick myself in my pants. They are complete opposites but they balance each other out, it fits them."

"I knew you would agree, old friend."

Her clothes turned into flames and turned into a black leather tank top like shirt with an obsidian V-neck, black leather gloves fingerless with obsidian rocks around the top ends at the beginning of the for arm black leather boots up mid calf with obsidian crystals and ninja two toed and a black leather skirt with a cut in the side (barely above knee) with the top of the cut having a crystal with an X engraved in it. She had short flaming hair with red eyes and slightly darker tan obscured by the heat given off by her.

She had us set up an obstacle course almost like her sisters saying that bringing lava in would be too dangerous and I agreed. Indeed her athletic abilities were amazing and much more higher than her sister's. She showed a average level of intelligence, perhaps just a bit higher, but no where near her sister's.

There was no doubt about it. These two were ready to join the X-Men.


	4. Chapter 4: One Down

Chapter 4:One Down

Quicksilver P.O.V.

"Are you sure this is the best way to go? I mean seriously, wouldn't it be easier to take them at the same time?" Toad questioned.

"Mystique said that this is what Magneto instructed, to take them one at a time. He says that all four of us combined are no match for both of them. He doubts that we have even a chance of forcing one of them to come with us." I snipped.

"Hey! What about Mystique? Won't she help catch Magneto's "important people in his big plan"? I bet with her that we'd get at least one of them easy."

"You know how it is, Toad, Mystique won't help us." Lance replied bitterly.

"She can't help us, even if she wanted to." I commented. "If she's gone for to long and this gets out of hand her cover could be blown wide open, and if that happens getting out of trouble at school will be a lot more harder. Besides, she is kind of helping us."

We heard a rustling as our prey came closer and closer and we all fell silent.

* * *

RoseMarie Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

"Goooooaaaaaaalllllll!" I shouted as I kicked the soccer ball into the net. My new found friends and I bounced around excitedly, my hair in a high ponytail swaying and tickling the back of my neck.

"You should really try out for the soccer ball team next year, RoseMarie! You would be awesome!" Ming said.

"Oh, I'm not all that good. I'm not really the athletic type." I replied, and I felt my cheeks grow rosy.

"Maybe compared to your sister, but you're better than some of the athletes on our sports teams!" Chloe commented. "I mean, look how well you play soccer at PE. You're not the average nerd that gets picked last, girl. No offense Trisha!"

"And yet I'm offended!" Trisha shouted back.

The loud speaker crackled to life.

"Would RoseMarie... I am not even going to try to pronounce your last name, come up to the front office?" Principal Darkholme asked.

"Well, it looks like I have to go guys. See ya in Spanish 3!" I called as left. I didn't bother grabbing my things. I could change after I visited the principal, right? I don't think Xavier had any plans to pick me up early.

I took the shortest way there, which was a shortcut that went behind the school and partially through some trees.

"Hey, look who it is." A dark and sinister voice commented. Pietro stepped out of the shadows with his three other friends from the Brotherhood, all them dressed up like big bad super villains. I was only half way there, if I could just get away soon enough, I'd be among normal people and they wouldn't try anything then.

"What do you guys want? My sister and I already made it quite clear that we have no interest in joining your little group of evil." I commented coolly, raising my guard.

"It doesn't matter if you're interested or not. My dad wants you and that's all that matters." He sneered.

A breeze blew through the tense atmosphere, brushing my baggy, black PE shorts against my legs as I assumed a defensive stance, curling my hands into fists in preparation of the inevitable fight.

Pietri darted forward and without a second thought a large ring of ice surrounded my feet. He slipped and slided, narrowly missing me.

"Come on guys!" A brunette with what looked a clear bowl on his head, called. "Pietro's going to be useless in this fight!"

The big guy reached my ring of ice, and with all his might he stomped on it and shattered it. I quickly reformed it and had his legs encased in large pieces of ice. Then the smallest one jumped onto and then off his large buddy and shot his tongue at me, I quickly sidestepped, waling on the ice as if it was the regular ground. He landed and tried to retract his tongue, only to find it stuck to the ice.

"No fair, man!" He cried indignantly around his tongue.

I couldn't help but smile in slight amusement as with a flick of my fingers the ice crept up his tongue.

"Not cool! Not cool!" He spluttered.

"Arrrghhh!" a voice cried.

I turned to see that the larger man had broken free of his icicle prison and I had to turn myself into water in order to avoid his incredibly large fist. I quickly reformed and with a fling of my hands I sent icicles flying, pinning him to a nearby tree. Unfortunately, it did not hold him for long.

The brunette was smarter than the rest and had yet to venture out onto my island of ice, but he was beginning to grunt and his face bore and expression of strain. The earth began to rumble and my ice ring shattered. They all converged towards me at once, everyone except the brunette,who kept the ground shaking, making it impossible for my ice to remain in one piece. I quickly abandoned that tactic and I began flicking icicles at them, doing my best to avoid vital points. I could have frozen them all with a sling wave of my hand, my there was no guarantee that they'd all be alive once thawed.

I didn't want to kill. Killing is wrong. My parents taught me that. They'd still tell me that if they were still alive. It was all my fault. If I hadn't- No, I thought shaking my head, I have to focus on the fight. But when I put my mind back into the fight, all I saw was a large rock flying towards me and then everything went black.

* * *

Lance P.O.V.

The young girl crumpled to the ground the moment the rock hit her. I quickly ran over to her and place her head in my lap to check for a pulse.

"Blob, you big idiot!" I shouted at the man responsible for the terrible cut across her forehead. "You almost killed her! Magneto wants her alive!"

"Is she going to be alright?" Quicksilver asked.

"I think so. We just need to get her treated and she'll be fine. Probably a concussion and she has a nasty cut, but she'll be fine."I replied. "Thanks goodness for whatever distracted her though, otherwise we might be the ones unconscious right now."

"Yeah, for a scrawny little thing she was quite difficult to kidnap." He agreed. "I'll let Magneto know we need a water proof and ice proof prison cell set up for our guest." He ran off to alert Magneto.

* * *

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

"And I accepted the challenge, although the coach wasn't all to thrilled with having one of his boys go as low as wrestling a girl. I had the dude pinned to the mat in seconds." I bragged to Bobby and we walked into the mansion, just getting home from school.

"Man, I'd hate to get into a fight with you!" He joked.

"Yeah! Even with your powers I'd turn you into a crispy piece of meat!" I joked, although being serious at the same time. Bobby wasn't my sister and I sure knew that he was now where near her level.

Professor Xavier noticed us and maneuvered his wheel chair to us.

"Do you two know where RoseMarie is?" He asked.

"No. Why? She isn't home?"

"No, and she did not alert me of any plans after school."

"I didn't here anything either. She was called to the front office though. Maybe whatever Principal Darkholme wanted involved her staying after school. I can go check." I offered.

"Thank you. Take a couple others with you. I don't feel something right about this."

"Of course, Prof. Be back in a bit. Bobby, go see if Jean wants to come. I'm gonna check with Wolvie. It'd be smart to have some adult supervision, and I don't think it'd be best to send you since you were the one to freeze the gas tank in his motorcycle." I teased.

"You were the one who actually burned the sides of it with actually flames." He retorted.

"Yeah, but he didn't catch me in the act, Ice Boy. He doesn't know it's me." I snorted in victory.

"Now I do." A deep and rather ticked off voice said behind me.

I turned around to see the one and only Wolverine glaring at me.

"Hey, Logan." I greeted him nervously. "Wanna go see if my sister is still at school?"

"Why should I?"

"Please Logan," the Professor pleaded, "Something about this doesn't sit right with me."

"Fine, but the girl gets her punishment when we get back." He snarled.

"I agree."

"Oh, this is just great." I moaned.

A few minutes later we were at school. We searched every square inch of that place, but there was no sign of her.

"This is just great." Logan grumbled. "I could be fixin' up my ride, but I'm stuck tracking a girl who been off campus so long that all her previous scents are mixin' with the freshest one."

"Well, she was at PE when she was called. She'd take the shortest route there, being the nerd and goody-goody she is-" I began.

"Too bad her sister can't have the same qualities." Logan snorted.

"Oh, come on. I know I'll suffer when we get home, so can you just drop it and help me look for my sister?"

"I've been doin' that!"

"Whatever! As I was saying, she'd take the shortest route. Let's retrace her steps and see from there."

"That's a reasonable plan." Jean agreed. "Lead the way Shadow."

We were about half way to the front office when Bobby suddenly stopped.

"What is it, Bobby?" Jean asked.

"I've got that feeling."

"What feeling?" I asked.

"That feeling when I'm around your sister's ice. You see, her ice gives me this creepy feeling. You see, unlike my ice, your sister's ice doesn't melt unless she wills it too and for some reason that just makes me feel weird around her ice." He explained.

"Okay, slightly weird, but that's good. We've got a lead. Everyone look around her carefully." I commanded.

Within minutes we found something.

"Hey! Guys! Come over here! I think I found something!" Jean called.

We all ran over to her.

"Look here," she said, pointing at tiny piece off ice that were hiding in the grass, "I think this is shattered ice. It's everywhere in this area."

"It's definitely RoseMarie's." Bobby confirmed. "It's given me that creepy feeling."

Wolverine stood up from his squatted position and sniffed the air.

"RoseMarie was definitely here, as well as the Brotherhood kids from your school. I don't have to be all that smart to figure out that this was an ambush." He reported.

"Yeah, but she whooped their butts right?" I asked.

He walked a few paces before squatting back down, sniffing a certain portion off the grass.

"I don't think so, kid." He replied after a few minutes. "Come over here."

I cautiously went over to him, pretty sure that I would not be happy with why he didn't think so.

He pointed towards a reddish patch of grass. "I can smell five different scents of blood, four of them I am unfamiliar with that it must be the four that attacked her. Those scents are so weak that they most likely only received nicks, however this stain right here smells like your sister's blood, and since she hasn't been home to receive treatment and no ambulances have been to your school today, I must assume that they have her."

My brain, of course, did not want to acknowledge this and so it went down a road that I wish it hadn't.

"Wait a second, how do you know what my sister's blood smells like?" I asked suspiciously.

"She's a girl isn't she?"

"Yeah, so what?" Then it clicked. "Oh dude, that is beyond disgusting. You can actually smell that? Oh man, that is disgusting. So you know when every girl is- I don't even want to finish that question. That is just so gross."

"You don't have to tell me about it." He commented. "I'm the one who has to smell it constantly. I'd actually like it if you girls over did it on the perfume on those days."

"Okay, back onto the more important topic." Jean reminded us, though she looked grossed out herself. "We gotta tell the Professor. He may be only person able to locate RoseMarie."

* * *

RoseMarie Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

When I woke up I had a headache the size of Duncan's ego and I was in what appeared to be a prison cell made out of steel. The room was perfectly smooth, there were absolutely no cracks or crevices that I could use ice to expand or break to get out. I touched my head and found not only a tightly wrapped bandage, but also that my wrist and ankles had shackles on them. I was about to turn into water to try and get out, but a voice stopped me.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you."

I look up to see a man clad in purple and red standing safely on the other side of the prison bars.

"And why's that?" I snapped.

"Simply because this room is rigged to release a gas that reacts very strongly with liquid water that is not either in a warm body or in a cup that will be given to you when you need water. You'd turn into a pile of goo if you tried to turn into water." He explained.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm sorry, excuse my poor manners. I am Magneto, and as for what I want, that will all be explained once we have you and your sister."

"Magneto." I whispered. That was the man in charge of the Brotherhood.

"I'm sorry for such poor accommodations, but since you refused to willingly join us, this is the best I can due. It steel with no cracks or crevices that you could freeze to expand and break. And you are already aware of the water feature."

"What about gaseous water?"

"You could try that, but the electrified force field would split the gaseous water into oxygen and hydrogen, and I don't believe that you'd be able to return to normal that way, or that you'd even be alive to do so."

I couldn't help but growl in frustration and then I screamed, allowing ice to coat everything in my cell and it even managed to get down the hall, but I quickly collapsed and clutched my head in agony.

"Ah yes, your head. You received a nasty cut across your forehead and a concussion. Someone will come to check on you and change your bandages shortly, but I recommend that you rest 'til then." He commented, then he left without another word.

Too bad I didn't have an ice form that worked. I did have one, but I couldn't move in that form. I just turned into a human statue. My only hope was that someone from the institute could locate me and come to the rescue.

* * *

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

I sat smoldering on my bed. It'd been a week since my sister had gone missing. I had nearly incinerated five random criminals, Logan's bike, and various other things in my frustrated search for my sister. I had even questioned Lance, Fred, Pietro, and Mortimer about my sister's abduction the next day, but they told me nothing. What I learned I saw with my eyes. They were beat up and covered in scratches and Mortimer talked like his tongue was frozen. Rosie had given 'em a good beaten before they managed to take her down.

Lance, however, had told me something interesting after school today.

~Flashback~

"If it wasn't the fact that you're sister hadn't been distracted by something, I don't think that we would have been able to kidnap her."

"What distracted her?"

"I don't know, but whatever it was, she looked pretty sad."

~Flashback Ends~

After talking around I found out that Lance kind of had a soft spot towards the X-Men. Apparently he had been one once, just out of for a certain girl.

Crap, Rosie is still shouldering all the guilt that is not hers to bear. It wasn't her fault and whenever she concentrated on not killing someone in a fight it always reminded her of that guilt, causing her to zone out for a minute and most of the time losing the fight.

Crap, crap, crap! She's a complete idiot! She's strong and would be able to handle herself if she'd just give up on the guilt and figure out that it wasn't her that killed them, it was our uncle, not her.

The torches shined bright with my frustration.

My bedroom door slammed open and Jean and Scott came bursting in.

"What is it?" I snapped.

"It's... it's RoseMarie." They panted.

"We think... we've found her." Scott panted.

"There have... been some weird... weather around an area... at the bottom of some... nearby mountains. The temperatures.. have dropped drastically... in that area and... the weatherman said... that it's strange... because of the time... of year and because... no cold fronts have been... moving towards that area." Jean explained.

"Is this something that our scientists think too?" I asked, trying to keep my hopes down.

"Yes, Beast agrees with this. He's quite confident that it is your sister." Scott continued, finally catching his breath. "He also says that while the temperatures have dropped drastically that there is no signs of cool weather like snow, rain, or even wind. It's just cold."

"We're going to do a fly by in the jet with a few experienced members of the X-Men and Bobby. He'll be able to tell if your sister is the cause of this. You want to come?" Jean offered.

"Of course!" I shouted. "Did you really have to ask?"

A few hours later we were flying around the base of the mountains in the area that Jean and Scott had been talking about.

"Man," Kitty sniffed. "I should've totally, like, brought a jacket. Can't we turn up the heat?"

"No." Logan replied sternly. "Due to someone having a phasing accident, our heater isn't working."

"Oops. Sorry." Kitty apologized.

"Anything yet, Bobby?" Jean asked the living RoseMarie detector.

"Nah, I'm just feeling the cold." He responded. "No, wait. Down there." He pointed.

It was an almost castle like building and every time we flew directly above it, the temperature dropped even more drastically than the surrounding area.

"I think he's he's right." Beast agreed, looking at a map on his laptop. "This is the exact certain of the area that the temperatures are dropping in."

"Hey Shades, why can't you heat this bird up?" Kitty asked, being completely off topic.

"Because, unlike my sister, I don't know how to emit an aura off my power... yet. No can we get back on topic here? You know, the one about rescuing my sister."

"I think I can land in that clearing a few miles from the building." Logan reported.

"Yeah, let's do that." Scott agreed. "We'll try stealth first. We don't know how many of them are in there. Oh, and a heads up Yang, we try to call each other by our code names on the field."

"Got it, Cyclops."

He smiled. "Perfect."

The stealth thing turned into a complete failure. Kitty sneezed the moment we got inside and it echoed throughout the entire building. We had not only the Brotherhood members we knew, but also some veterans, on us in seconds.

"Great, this saves us the trouble of waiting for her to let her guard down to kidnap her." Pietro commented, who I had learned earlier was code named Quicksilver. He released a sneeze soon afterwards.

"Why does your father want the girls so badly, Quicksilver?" Cyclops asked.

"I don't know, he hasn't told any of us. We've just been taking care of the brat ever since we caught her. I've slipped so many times in the ice in her cell I think I'm going to have permanent bruise on my butt." He complained.

"Enough talk, Quicksilver." A large hairy man with fangs and claws ordered. "Let's fight." And he instantly lunged for Wolverine.

I let in a ferocious battle cry as I leapt into the battle.

* * *

RoseMarie Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

A small, feminine sneeze echoed throughout the building. It wasn't one that I had grown used to hearing over the past week, whose was it? I heard a fight break out and a familiar battle cry ring throughout the building. Could it be the X-Men and my sister? Were they really able to find me because of the strange temperatures I created here?

With renewed vigor, I created ice and screamed. Hoping that one of my friends would come and release me from my prison before a foe came to knock me out. I tried to reach for my sister with my emotions, hoping she'd sense me in here despite our lack of telepathy. I cried out in my mind with all my heart, _I'm here! Please come quickly!_

* * *

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

I heard intense screaming, liking the screaming of a caged animal that desperately wants to be released, in the middle of the battle. I soon become swarmed by emotions that were not my own. The desperation to be free, fear, and confusion, but I did feel one that was mutual... hope.

Suddenly, a voice cried out in my head, _I'm here! Please come quickly!_

* * *

3rd Person P.O.V.

Simultaneously, the two girls clutched their heads as sudden agony ripped through their skulls. They fell to ground, both their cries of pain in perfect sync. The body of the one in the cell was emitting bursts of flames, and the body of the other had a ring of ice surrounding it and her normal flaming body was extinguished. They did not notice this exchange in powers as they clutched their heads, wondering were this agony was coming from.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Was their final cry before both of their consciousnesses became dark.

* * *

**Please review.**


	5. Chapter 5: Unknown Powers

Chapter 5: Unknown Powers

Professor Xavier P.O.V.

The doors to my study burst open and I looked up to see Jean and Scott panting in my doorway.

"What is it?" I asked worriedly. "Did something go wrong with the mission? Is anybody seriously hurt?"

Scott managed to regain his breath first.

"No one got hurt severely, we think. We're not sure about RoseMarie and Shadow though." He reported.

"Why? What happened?" I pressed for more information.

"In the middle of the fight, Shadow collapsed and clutched her head, screaming, as her normal flame was extinguished and a ring of ice surrounded her." Jean explained. "When I went to go check on her I found no visible wounds. At some point, when a few of us managed to slip past the Brotherhood's defense, I left Logan to watch over her and I went to go get her sister and see if she knew anything."

"And she was unable to?"

"No. She was in a similar state to her sister, except flames kept on shooting out of her. They stopped at some point and they both were in the same position. They were laying on their backs as stiff as a board. The only injury I saw on RoseMarie was a healing scrape on her forehead. We've tried waking them up in several ways, including my telepathy, but they won't wake up. Beast wants to see what you can find out. They're in the infirmary right now." Jean finished.

"Show me to them." I ordered.

When I did arrive to the infirmary, I only saw a few mutants were injured, some more severely than others, but none were crippling or life threatening. As for the sisters, a worried crowd had gathered around them as they lied side by side, completely still. I didn't waste anytime, and not even waiting for Beast to inform me, I delved into their minds. I only got so far before I hit something. To my mind it felt as solid as a brick wall, but I saw nothing. This must mean I haven't even yet reached their minds, it must be a barrier, but how could two non-telepaths keep out me out. Unless...

I turned to the awaiting students and said, "I can't wake them up."

An unease set upon the crowd.

"Why not?" Bobby asked from a nearby by bed where he healing ointment was being rubbed into a scratch on his back.

"Whether they know this or not, they've managed to set up a barrier around their minds that only they can take down. I believe that they are both very strong telepaths. However, they only can enter each others mind and through this I believe they were able to share powers." I explained. "They will not wake up until they figure out how to take down this barrier."

"What about the screaming and clutching their heads?" Ororo asked.

"This is probably their first time connecting and they most likely connected with so much mental force that it caused them physical pain."

"Will they wake up?" asked Kitty.

"I don't kno-"

* * *

RoseMarie Leistungsstarke P.O.V. 

I woke up in a strange place. The sky was pitch black and stars shining in it and the ground were translucent blue square. The moment I managed to get myself up a crowd a people rushed onto the open plain. They kept coming and they appeared to be never ending. I was sure that they would trample me, but I didn't know where to go. I braced myself for the oncoming impact, but it never came. The person passed right through me, and so did everyone else. I could sense everything that was going on in their heads. Some were in pain, some were happy, some were sad, and etc. All their current thoughts pushed their way into my head and a migraine began to form. I spotted Bobby, who was walking with everyone else. I ran towards him and I reached towards him yelling, "Bobby, what's going on?"

My fingers slipped right through him, just like they did to everyone else. I felt his feelings. He was worried... worried about me and Shadow.

What is going on? Am I dead? And what about Shadow? What is going on?

I could barely think. My thoughts were not the only ones swarming my head. Why couldn't everyone stop for a moment? Why couldn't everyone... "Freeze!" I yelled.

And just like that, everyone stopped in their tracks. They became still and I had space to walk around in without touching anyone.

"What is happening to me?"

* * *

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V. 

When I woke up to a sky that was pitch black and had stars shining in it and the ground were translucent blue square. The moment I managed to get myself up a crowd a people rushed onto the open plain. They kept coming and they appeared to be never ending. I was swarmed within seconds, and people passed through me. I felt their lives like flames. Some new and just beginning to catch, others fading as they came closer to the end, and for the first time in my life, I new what it felt like to be burned. My whole body felt on fire and it hurt to move. Who could move if their body was in flames?

I heard someone shout, "Freeze!", and the crowd did just that. They stopped moving and they no longer touched me, and I saw their flames of life instead of feeling them. They resided in their chest and no matter how faint the were, I could sense them, and something tells me that if I were to reach out to touch the flames, I could either extinguish it or I could revive it.

My eye caught sight of something moving in the otherwise motionless plain. I quickly moved towards it, maybe it was whoever shouted freeze. Whoever it was they moved quickly and expertly ran through the frozen people. Due to my strong athletic ability I was gaining in them and soon I saw a blond ponytail swinging back and forward, and shortly after that, I managed to see the back of the person. They were just an inch taller than me, but a slighter build, and they wore tattered and filthy PE uniform that was from my school.

Could it be? Yes! There was no doubt about it, I could feel the cold radiating off her body.

"RoseMarie!" I called.

She stopped abruptly and turned around to face me. Her forehead had a huge scab on it, other then that she looked pretty healthy except for the fact that she looked like she hadn't take a bath in a week, and she probably hadn't. Any enemy who knew her powers wouldn't be stupid enough to let her near a shower that had a drainage system or anyway to get into the pipes.

She broke into a huge smile and ran towards me and embraced me.

"Oh, Shadow, I was so worried. I'm so glad that I finally found someone who I can touch in this place."

"I know what you mean. Everyone I touched burned me, that is, until you yelled freeze. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. You wouldn't believe the tight security I was under. There was no way I could escape, and when I read Bobby's mind I thought they may have caught you too."

"Do you know what's going on here?"

"I don't know. If we can find Professor Xavier in all this mess, then maybe we can find out. I think I can read minds here."

And as if we had called for him to come, Professor Xavier showed up out of no where in his wheel chair, as stiff and motionless as the rest. Rosie went to touch him and she remained that way for five minutes before she turned and told me, "The Prof isn't sure what is going on either, but based off what he knows combined with what I've figured out, I think I know what is going on."

"What?"

"This is a mental plain. Here, you and I can see every living human being on the planet. I can read their minds, but it overwhelms me to have them walk right through me, having a different person head entering mine one after another. As for you, you remember when mom told us that you held the fire of life in your hands?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, here I think you can extinguish or lengthen lives here, but only when I have them freeze. Can you tell any difference between the flames?"

I looked around.

"Well, some flames are smaller, bigger, brighter, and/or fainter." I looked closer, and I noticed something. "Professor's flame is slightly different than most of them. His has a redder glow while most of the others have an orange-ish one."

"That probably is the shade for mutants. The Professor can search for mutants using Cerebro because our brain patterns are slightly different. Maybe that's the case here. And there is extra bad news."

"What?"

"Xavier can't get us out of here. Only we can, and I don't know how."

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait and I'm extra sorry for what I am about to say next. I will be going on a trip in a couple of days, so there in will be no new chapters for a while, and don't hold your breath for Brawn to write a chapter. I hope to see reviews.**

**~Brain~**

**And no, I will not be typing while she is gone. We are a team and can not plan out the next chapter while we are in two different states. Sorry for the inconvenience.**

**~Brawn~**


	6. Chapter 6: Facing the Past

Chapter 6: Facing the Past

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

"What do you mean you don't know how?!" I shouted as I began to panic. "You're the nerd, the geek, Ms. Know-it-all! How can you not know how?"

"I don't freaking know because I've never studied telepathy and if I did, I doubt this scenario would come up. I mean, seriously, even the Professor has no freaking clue as to what is going on. All he knows is that he can't get us out of here." She retorted.

"Come on! You've got to know something! You've seen Xavier and Jean use their telepathy! There has got to be something you've seen that can help us!"

"Maybe there is, but you need to shut up so I can think!" She snapped.

The frustration and angry behind it shut me up instantly. We always argue, but never like this. She never had snapped like this. When we argued, she always sounded like a mother scolding or lecturing a child, even before mom and dad died. When they were alive she would get it so much trouble for doing that, but it became necessary after they died. I needed a parent while Ms. Know-it-all was fine on her own, at least, that was what I thought. Now... I'm not so sure. I guess parents are for more than raising children, they're there to comfort and provide much needed wisdom and strength, and most of the time it was well into their children's adult years. RoseMarie had been all those things for me, but no one has been that for her months. Now that I think about it, I wasn't the only one who pushed the counselors away. Rosie had too, both of us refused their help, but I was the only one who had someone I got help from. Maybe because of this, and the pressure I give her daily, that she has finally snapped.

She paced anxiously around Xavier, thinking and grumbling as she thought about a way for us to get out.

"Listen, Rosie, I shouldn't have expected you knew everything. I'm just scared." I apologized.

She stopped pacing for a moment and looked at me. Her face softened, but her body remained tensed.

"It's okay, I'm scared too." She replied.

"I shouldn't have pushed so much pressure out at you." I continued.

"I told you that it's alrig-" She started, but then she got a spark in her eye and snapped her fingers. "That's it!"

"What's it?"

"I was talking to Jean once and she said that using her telepathy is like pushing or reaching out to another persons mind. Maybe if we push our minds out and really concentrate we can break the wall that the Professor can't breach!" She explained excitedly.

"Yeah, and how do we do that?" I asked skeptically.

"Simple, we are inside our heads right now. It's our minds so we can imagine what we want, and we can imagine that we stretching our minds out to find a wall."She clarified. "And I think only one of us has to do it, as long as the other person can attach their mind to the mind of the person doing it."

"How about you try the reaching out thing. I'm still not a hundred percent sure what we're doing, plus you seem to be the master telepath here."

"Alright, grab onto to me and see if that helps you maintain the connection. Hopefully this works."

"Yeah, or we may become vegetables."

"How'd you know that?"

"I watch TV. Everyone knows that if a risky mind trick doesn't work the people end up in a vegetable state."

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"There is a scientific reason, and plus don't trust everything you watch on TV."

"Gasp! Optimus Prime isn't real?" I sarcastically asked.

She rolled her eyes.

"Just think positively, okay?"

"Fine."

* * *

RoseMarie Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

Shadow grabbed my arm and I could feel her mind reach out and connect to mine. Once I felt that she had a strong enough connection to me and stretched out my mind in search of the wall that separated us from the Professor. Despite the never ending appearance of the mental plain it didn't take long to find the wall. I pressed against it and willed it to break, but it wouldn't budge. It didn't even shake.

"What's going on?" Shadow asked telepathically.

"I don't know, it just won't break. I'm going to try a different spot and see if it has any weak points." I replied.

I went all around the wall, but I could not make it break. I was nearly at the point where I had started when I saw a door. A little old, brown, and wooden door with a golden knob.

"You see that?" I asked her.

"Yeah, it's kind of weird. Do you think it is a way out?"

"I don't know, but it's worth a try."

"At least we're not vegetables yet."

"That's staying positive." I teased as we opened the door.

We entered to find a lush green yard with a few pine trees jutting out along the perimeter. Shadow and I stood side by side in the middle of it, and a house was barely visible on the horizon.

"Hey, doesn't this look familiar?" Shadow asked me.

"Yeah, but how'd we end up here? Where's the team?" I asked.

All of the sudden, laughter split the air and a pair of teens ran right through us.

"Shadow! That wasn't funny!" The blond yelled at the brunette she was chasing.

"Ah, come on, Rose! How is it not funny if you're laughing?" The brunette retorted.

"It's us." Shadow stated stiffly. "We're in our past."

I nodded grimly. We both knew what day this was.

"It's the day mom and dad died."

The past me carefully created a patch of ice under the past Shadow's feet, causing her to slip and fall onto the soft grass. The ice quickly melted and the past me caught up to my sister's past self.

"Got ya!" She laughed as she bent over her.

"Fine! You win, you big cheater." Past Shadow submitted.

The past me helped her get up.

"Just wait, some day I'm going to be able to fly like a rocket and then you won't be able to catch me, even if you use your ice steps." She claimed.

"Yeah, like that'll happen." The past me snorted.

"You don't believe me? Well, check this out!"

The three of us shouted no in unison as the past Shadow sent fire from her palms and bottom of her feet, she was trying to fly like the famous comic book super hero, Iron Man. She didn't get very far off the ground before a slight error of balance and gravity brought her falling down to earth. The grass was ablaze. The past me quickly turned gaseous water into liquid and began putting out the fire and the past Shadow stood in the middle of it gazing in horror, not at the burning yard, but at our Uncle Getreu. He stood with his mouth gaping at us, his eyes staring in horror.

The past Shadow willed the flames out of existence, and the past me opened her mouth and said, "Bitte Onkel, erschrecken sie nicht. Wir können alles erklären."

I had asked him not to be alarmed and promised to explain everything. If only I had known everything I know now, I would've done everything in my power to scare him away from the property.

"No! You do not deserve to speak in my home language! Where are you're parents? I must speak with them now!" He demanded.

"They are in the house." The past me responded, with my head hanging low. "They are cooking dinner."

I had thought that he was mad that we had destroyed a part of the yard, and being punished by not being allowed to speak in German was a common punishment. At the time we did not know how anti-mutant our family was. We didn't even know that our family in general were some of the few to know that mutants existed.

He entered the house and we regrettably followed shortly afterwards.

We waited in the room next to the kitchen and the argument was loud and clear.

"We've known for a while, Getreu. They each got their abilities when there were six." My mother explained.

"Then why are the little monsters alive still? They'll destroy our family bloodline's purity. You know the rules of our family. Every mutant in our family is to be executed." My Uncle growled.

"We are in America now, brother. Some of our family traditions, if committed, would be a crime punishable by the law. In Germany we knew ways to keep ourselves protected from such things, and besides, even if we could, we wouldn't. We love our girls very much and they have not sought to harm us." Our father explained. "Plus, our bloodline has already been spoiled. Our great grandfather was one, he said so in his journals. His ability was to make things grow in perfect health. It's why his crops were so healthy and plentiful as well as his live stock. Plus, Anne's parents were both mutants and she is a mutant. She can sense the powers of others and she knows their exact abilities."

"Then I will have to kill you all!" My Uncle threatened.

A clatter arose from the kitchen and screaming followed before being swiftly silenced. The past us raced into the kitchen to behold our Uncle shoving two steak knives into our parents throats. He reached for more and began to brutally stab them over and over until they were well beyond dead. The past us could do nothing but stare in horror. Once our parents were barely recognizable, our uncle stood up with a bloody knife in each hand and glared at us.

"Your turn." He growled and then he raced towards us.

The past me quickly turned the ground underneath his feet into ice. He slipped and fell and Shadow promptly hit the back of his head with a vase. He fell unconscious. Even as our past faded into darkness, and our minds began to part, we could only stand stiff in horror at what we had been forced to witness a second time. I never wanted to return to this world again.

* * *

**Yay! I'm back from my trip, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for the reviews and I hope to have another chapter up before the month is up.**

**~Brain~**

**Those poor children, imagine that happening to a real child. I hope we updated for all you readers soon enough.**

**~Brawn~**


	7. Chapter 7: Struggles

Chapter 7: Struggles

James "Logan" Howlett P.O.V.

I was looking at my watch while Charles was talking when all of a sudden the time that appeared on my watch went from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. It wasn't just my watch either. Through the window I could see that the sun was no longer in the position it was the last time I looked. It truly did to look like the beginning of the afternoon.

"-w. It can't be said for certain. They have no experience with telepathy, but RoseMarie isn't exactly average intelligence."

I spoke up, "Hey, Chuck! Something is up. It suddenly went from 10 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon."

He directed his attention to a clock and then the sun to confirm it just the way I had, but then something else suddenly needed his more immediate attention.

"Look, Professor! They're waking up!" Kurt pointed out.

He was right, they were. The skin around their eyes began to scrunch up and tears started to leak from their eyes. In a few minutes, they opened their eyes and started to blink them rapidly as they came to, trying to clear their eyes of built up tears. Everyone started to cheer and many were about to hug them, but Charles and Beast stopped everyone in their tracks. RoseMarie and Shadow had yet to acknowledge our presence yet, and instead reached up to their cheeks to feel their moistened cheeks and then pulled away and stared at their hands. They stared at them in a stupor, appearing to be surprised that they had been crying. The Shadow spoke.

"So... we watched it happen all over again... didn't we?" She asked sadly.

"Yes, we witnessed it all over again. I never want to go back to that place again." RoseMarie responded in the same desolate tone.

"RoseMarie, Shadow, are you two alright?" Chuck asked in concern.

Their heads turned slowly towards the concerned crowd, quickly rubbing their faces dry once they realized they had an audience.

"Maybe everyone should go." Beast suggested.

"No, no, everything is fine." RoseMarie replied happily, giving everyone a big smile. It was empty though. Her smile, her happy attitude, none of it was real. She was just putting on an act for everyone so that they wouldn't worry. Plus, she didn't smile all that much, and no one had ever witnessed her cry. Something was definitely not alright.

"Everyone needs to leave. Hank and Logan, stay with me." Charles ordered.

Everyone slowly filed out.

"What happened?" He asked.

Suddenly RoseMarie began to shake, she tried to fight it, but something had finally snapped in side of her.

"I'm never going back to that place! Ever!" She snapped as fresh tears rolled down her pale cheeks, not having to keep appearances in front of a large audience.

"Don't worry, RoseMarie. We'll never let the Brotherhood kidnap you again." Chuck reassured her, but she just continued to shake and sob.

Shadow got up from her bed and walked over to her sister and sat next to her. She wrapped her in her arms and rocked back and forth in an attempt to comfort her.

"It's not that, Professor." Shadow started. "I think RoseMarie could live with going through that again, and maybe even going back into that mental plain, but neither of us could deal with exiting that mental plain again."

"You seem perfectly fine." I pointed out.

"Yeah... but that's because I've always relied on her help on getting through this. She has refused anyone's help, and I haven't realized how that has truly affected her until now." She explained. "She blames herself for everything you know, even though she was just trying to be the good big sister she has always been and it wasn't even her fault."

"It is. It is." RoseMarie babbled.

"No, no it's not. I was being careless. I didn't realize that Uncle Getreu was due for a visit." Shadow tried to reassure her. "Come on, please calm down."

Something clicked inside Rosie's brain. She calmed down to process her thoughts.

"Actually, he wasn't due for a visit until the next week." She muttered.

"Can anyone tell me what is going on?" I asked, feeling rather frustrated.

"Please girls, explain." Chuck inquired.

RoseMarie sat at the edge of the bed with her legs hanging off as she composed herself.

"I think we first connected when I figured out that the team was there to save me. I blacked out and then found myself out on a empty plain, which was not empty for very long. So many people came rushing at me and whenever someone touched me I felt as they currently felt and I even caught a quick glimpse at their current thoughts. I quickly became overwhelmed and yelled for everyone to freeze and they did."

"I wonder if that affected us. It would explain the huge time jump." I interrupted.

"It could be, but we must listen to the rest of their tale before we think about anything else, Logan." Chuck agreed while hinting that I needed to keep my trap shut.

Shadow then started to speak.

"Something similar happened to me. I woke in the same mental plain and it was quickly swarmed with people, except that every time one of them touched me and for the first time in my life I knew what it was like to be burned. Then RoseMarie shouted freeze, although I didn't know it was her at the time. After she did that I could see the individual flames of life buried in everyone's chest. I could tell whether a person was close to death or full of life, and something tells me that I could either revive or extinguish that flame. Later on I found my sister, and through reading your mind, Professor, she was able to deduce what was going on. We also were able to figure out that I can tell the difference between a human's and mutant's flame of life. We reached out our minds to find the same wall you had trouble with and we found a door..." She trailed off.

"And you made your way back to us?" The Professor guessed, sounding like he wished that was the case.

"No," RoseMarie started as she reached to clasp her sister's hand, "We went through the door to find ourselves in our past, a day that happened a few months ago..."

"Girls, you don't have to finish the story now. There will always be time for it later." He promised.

"No," RoseMarie said determinedly, "I can... I need to tell it. It was the day I our parents were murdered by our Uncle Getreu. We bore witness to it, and it was brutal. We could only stand in horror as our parents were stabbed to death and then my Uncle turned around and attacked us. We were forced to knock him out."

"Is there any reason he would want you four dead?" I asked.

"Yes, and we were able to learn why because we heard the argument prior to the murder." RoseMarie responded. It sounded like she was trying to ignore the fact that she was a victim of this situation. "Our family and its ancestors know of the existence of mutants and while they will ignore other mutants and let them be, it is against family traditions to marry someone who is a mutant and if mutant children are born, they are to be killed upon discovery so that the family bloodline may be kept pure. Both traditions were broken by my father. He took a mutant for a wife and he raised two mutant children, and so my Uncle saw fit to fix that, although it would not make a difference. Our bloodline already had been "spoiled" by an our great great grandfather."

"Your mother was a mutant?" Hank questioned.

"Yes... she had the ability to tell what the power of others were. She probably knew about the power that Shadow and I share, but kept it a secret from us just like our parents kept our other abilities a secret from the rest of our family. In order for anyone outside of our immediate family to see us, they had to schedule the day they wished to visit us or at least call ahead. If it was a scheduled visit, there would be no training or use of powers for that day, and if they called ahead, use of powers would stop immediately and all signs of them would be taken care of. That's why that it is so strange that Uncle Getreu arrived without doing either, and he had been extremely good about doing it before. He wasn't the first person to do it though."

"Who was?" Chuck asked.

Shadow scratched her head and said, "I think it was a Erik... Lense... no, it was Erik Lehnsherr! We were outside the whole time he was visiting, but when we went outside after he left, we discovered that he had done or said something to tick off our parents."

Too bad they can pronounce it correctly, and with perfect accents too, or I might've allowed myself to hope it wasn't thought who it was.

"Do you know who the heck that is?" I inquired.

"No, are we supposed too?" RoseMarie responded.

"It's the same mutant that kidnapped you. Why would he show up at your house if your parents were so good at keeping secrets?" I growled.

RoseMarie and Shadow's faces stared at me in shock and horror.

"What?" I asked.

"While our parents were excellent at keeping our abilities a secret from normal humans, the technology that was used to mask our signal from other mutants who could detect us would fail whenever there was a power outage. That's not the worst of it... Erik Lehnsherr is my mother's cousin." RoseMarie explained. "We had never seen him before, but Mom had told us stories about her cousin that survived World War II. She probably was trying to keep our very existence a secret from him."

"Hey, Chuck. Do you think that Magneto, you know, tipped their Uncle off? Without their parents, these two would be slightly easier to get to."

Charles rested his head on his hands. "I'm not sure Logan, but it certainly merits further investigation. As for you two," he said, turning towards the sisters, "I'm sure you are both exhausted and would like nothing more than a shower, some food, and your own beds to sleep in. This will be investigated and brought up at a later date."

* * *

RoseMarie Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

I woke up at 10 am the next morning and hurried to get ready. I was so late for school. I must've forgotten to set my alarm last night. Why hadn't anyone awakened me? I ran to wake Shadow since I basically was her alarm clock, but someone had apparently thought it was okay to wake her up in time but not me. I accidentally put my shirt on backwards and I had to spend more time fixing it. I wore a short black skirt with black leggings and a white long sleeve with a blue sweater vest. It would be a tad warm today, but when I met up with my friends, I don't want the first thing we talk about be the bruises on my wrists and the rest of my body where I struggled against my restraints sometimes painfully bumping into the wall or my bed. I nearly brushed my hair with my toothbrush and I almost put toothpaste on my hairbrush. I made sure to brush my hair so it hid the healing scratch on my forehead. I grabbed my book bag thinking '_Oh crap, I am going to have a lot of work to make up.' _and snatched my tattered PE clothes from the dryer. I'd have to buy a new set after school. I dashed down the stairs with one sock on and the other in hand along with a pair of tennis shoes. Once I was on the ground level I hopped towards the garage while getting my sock and shoes on.

I managed to get there just as Logan appeared to have finished fixing his motorcycle.

"Hey, Logan!" I called. "Can you please give me a ride to school?"

"The Professor said you could stay home today. You've been through a lot, being kidnapped and all." He replied.

"Come on, Logan! I need something normal in my life right now and school is the only thing that is normal for me. Plus if I don't show up, Shadow may get into a fight with my kidnappers." I retorted. "Also, if we hurry I can make it to lunch and my afternoon classes."

Yeah, I am suffering, but I like school and if I can't keep myself together and be strong... Shadow needs me to be that way... reliable and strong... that's all I have to think to keep pushing forward.

"Fine," he submitted as he hopped onto his motorcycle, "Get on, kid."

We left the house until 11 and we didn't get to the school until 11:30 because the institute was on the outskirts of town.

"Thanks, Logan!" I called as he drove away.

I dashed through the halls, startling students as I hurried to lunch. I hoped to make it before all the decent lunches were gone. I probably had just set the record for latest kid ever, but despite that I managed to be first in line. I grabbed a black tray that contained some actually pretty good lasagna, some brussle sprouts, a carton on fruit juice, and some cherry jello for desert. I quickly went and sat at my usual spot and waited for my friends to come join me.

I was kind of nervous about seeing them again, my non-mutant friends that is. I didn't want to talk about what happened to me, I just wanted things to go back to normal this time, and they could be since no one had died this time. I only saw my mutant friends at first as the student filed outside to eat, and quite a few of them were surprised to see me. Finally Ming came out, but she didn't come over or even look in my direction. She just went and sat down at a table that was overshadowed by trees. Chloe, Ashley, Mark, and Zac did the same. They all went to the same table, not even looking towards our usual spot, and quietly ate their food.

"They haven't eaten here ever since you went missing." A voice spoke up behind me.

I jumped in surprised and turned around to see Jean standing behind me.

"Oh, hey Jean." I responded with a smile.

She smiled back. "Hey, Rosie. I think that they miss you and are worried. Somehow they managed to catch whiff of the fact that we had no leads on finding you. I saw Pietro talk to them once and I think he might've hinted that it was slim that we'd get you back." She explained.

"I really hope karma comes to bite him in the butt in the near future." I remarked.

"It probably will at some point." She agreed, looking over at my friends again. "You know, I bet they'd be real easy to startle right now, with their heads bent like that." She winked.

"Thanks Jean, I'll see ya later." I said as I got up with my lunch.

"No prob."

I walked over to the table my friends were at and once my face was hidden in the shadows of the trees, I said, "Why aren't you guys eating at our usual spot?"

"Simple," Ming muttered, "You're not here."

I burst out laughing and they all looked up at once and they stared at me in shock.

"But I am here!" I laughed. "Oh my gosh, you guys should see your guys' faces!"

"RoseMarie!" They shouted in unison.

"You're back!" Cried Chloe as they came and gave me a group hug, carefully avoiding my lunch.

"Of course I am back!"

"But Pietro said that cops were getting no where and that they couldn't find any clues to your whereabouts." Zac commented.

"Ah, Pietro is a complete douchebag. He told you that just to make you miserable." I replied. "By the way Zac, that comment was kind of redundant."

"Oh, the great nerd is back!" Mark teased.

Lunch turned out to be great. No one asked about what happened, although I am sure they wanted to know, and it almost was normal but I felt like my friends were being extremely careful around me. Like I was a china doll or something.

PE turned out to be a bit of a problem though. I changed as quickly as I could, but Ming and Chloe still saw my bruises and it was impossible to hide the ones on my arms and legs, especially since parts of my uniform were in tatters. And on top of that, something hadn't completely washed out of my PE uniform.

"Hey, RoseMarie. What's that on your shirt?" Zac pointed out a rust colored spot on my shirt once we met up on the black top.

"Uh, it's nothing." I replied, not meeting his eyes.

"It looks like blood." Chloe commented.

"I said it's nothing." I reiterated.

"And you're covered in bruises." Ming fussed.

"I'm fine. It's nothing to worry about."

Chloe gasped. "You were kidnapped when Principal Darkholme called you to the office! That's what you wore when they kidnapped you, so that must mean that... that is your blood!"

"And the people who kidnapped you beat you, huh?" Zac questioned.

"For goodness sake! I am fine! Not all the blood that was or is on this is not mine. I didn't exactly go peacefully. Secondly, the bruises were my own fault. I kept on struggling and bumped into stuff." I exclaimed in frustration and I stroked my hair, something I do when I am frustrated with a situation... either that or I am thinking really hard.

"They had to knock you out, didn't they?" Zac asked.

I looked at him shocked. "How'd you know?"

"There is a scrape on your forehead. My sister got a similar scratch once when some kids from our previous neighborhood thought it'd be funny to throw rocks at her for no reason whatsoever."

"Crap." I muttered. "Look I am fine, I am back safe and sound, and I honestly want to forget the whole thing and get back to my life. If I need any help there are professionals at home. I just want to hang with you guys and be happy, so can we drop the subject?"

They all nodded their heads and that was that.

* * *

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

I was sitting at my desk through another boring Geometry lesson and was basically just day dreaming and staring in through the little window in the door when I saw my least favorite people in the whole world stroll down the hall. I snapped to attention and instantly raised my hand.

"Yes, Silhouette?" The teacher called.

He knew my real name but refused to get it right. RoseMarie says that's because I have a talent for ticking off teachers.

"Can I go the bathroom?"

"Yes, you are able to."

I went to get up.

"Where are you going?"

"The bathroom."

"I said that you are able to, not that you may."

I sat down and sighed.

"May I please go the bathroom?"

"Yes, you may. It's not like you were paying attention anyway."

"It's not like this is an English classroom either, teach." I retorted as I exited the classroom.

I quickly caught up to them and they turned around at the sound of my hurried footsteps.

"Oh, look. It's the Ice Queen's little sis." Pietro commented. "What do you want? You have your sister back, for now."

"I can't believe that I am related to you." I snapped. The temperature started to rise. The Brotherhood began to sweat and something began to sizzle.

Pietro looked shocked. "Wait a second... we're related?"

"Yeah, did your dad never tell you that? That the teenagers your father wants you to kidnap are related to you?" I snapped. "I don't care how related we are though, I am still going to beat the freaking crap out of each and every one of you."

I was about to lunge for them, but then a firm and cold hand gripped my shoulder. I turned around to see my sister. I thought Xavier was keeping her home from school today. This could've been my only chance for revenge for what they put her through, and what eventually led her to rewitness our parents' deaths.

"Rosie?" I questioned in surprise.

"Revenge isn't good enough for them, Shady, and even so... it shouldn't be done here. It's too risky. People would get hurt, property would be damaged, mutant-kind could be revealed, and it would not help us un-see what we saw again." She chastised.

The temperature returned to normal and I slouched.

"Fine, but I will never forgive them." I muttered.

"You don't have to. It's your choice, but bearing a grudge won't do anyone any good. Now, all of us need to get back to class." She repsonded while shooting an icy glare at the Brotherhood.

Why couldn't our life have remained the same? Why did everything have to go spiraling out of control. Things would've been better that way.

* * *

**Thank you Magpie for the review. I promise the Uncle will be in future chapters. More reviews please.**


	8. Chapter 8: The First Session

Chapter 8: The First Session

Erik Lehnsherr P.O.V.

It frustrated me so, that those daughters of my cousin had escaped my grasp. First their mother kept them a secret, and after I had managed to find out their powers, she refused to even let me near them. I manipulated her brother-in-law to get her and her husband out of the way, but I was unable to obtain guardianship of the two because the murderer was in the family. To top that off, Xavier adopted them and once I managed to get one in my grasp, she was rescued by the X-Men before I could obtain the younger one.

Obviously Pietro and his gang had failed me on several occasions and I needed to look elsewhere. That elsewhere happened to be a run downed circus on the edge of town, opposite of Charles' Institute.

I brushed aside the drapes covering the entrance to the tent, stepping inside the dimly lit place. It reminded me of a bar, except it was desolate, except for one man who sipped at his beverage with his feet on the table, and despite my unannounced arrival, he appeared unsurprised.

"Welcome Magneto, to my humble abode." Mesmero greeted. "Come, take a seat and have a drink." He gestured towards a glass and chair across from him.

"You knew I was coming." I commented gruffly, as I pulled back the ancient wooden chair and took a seat.

"Of course, when the _mighty and powerful _Magneto ask around about you, one can expect a visit." He called me mighty and powerful in a mocking tone that suggested he knew someone who made me insignificant.

I gave him a burning stare, but I allowed his insult to slide. Now wasn't the time to crush my resources.

"I'm guessing you don't know why I am here though."

He shook his head and said, "No, but I am interested."

His feet had moved off the table, and his elbows were propped on the table, his hands folded and his eyes gleaming in cruel curiosity.

Perhaps this really could be the man I needed to accomplish my goals.

"I've been trying to capture two sisters, but they are under Charles Xavier's protection and have managed to escape my grasps every time. They know who my followers are a little to well, but I hear you managed to capture several of their members and get away with the crimes you committed. I am hoping that you'd capture the sisters and bring them to me." I explained.

"Hmmm... Of course this would come at a price."

"What do you want?"

"Don't ask me, ask my child. She'll be the one doing the job." He replied gesturing towards a dark corner where a figure had remained hidden for the duration of our conversation.

* * *

RoseMarie Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

I tipped toed past the new counselor's office in the hopes that I could avoid my first of many scheduled appointments.

The Professor had hired her out of concern for me, and she was a mutant herself, so our secret was safe, but I just don't want any help. I'm fine. The bad news is that her office is in the institute and is near the route I take every day on the way to my room, or when I leave it.

My bare feet moved across the floor in silence, my socks and tennis shoes clutched tightly in my fists, and I used every stealth technique I had ever been taught to try and sneak past the door.

"Hello there." A gentle voice greeted from behind me.

I turned around to see a slim woman with long bright red hair and emerald green eyes. She stood just a few inches than me and I knew I paled at the sight of her because I had never seen her before, and that meant she either was an enemy mutant, or she was something worse, the new counselor. At the very best, she could've been a new recruit, but the Professor would've given an announcement or have had her introduced.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Um, yeah. You must be new. What's your name?" I asked, hoping she didn't guess who I was.

She laughed, "Ha, I know who you are now. Charles said you'd try and pull something like this."

I started backing up, nice and slow.

"Hold on, you're not going anywhere, RoseMarie." She commanded. "We have a session to complete before you go anywhere."

I winced, "I'm guessing you're the new counselor, Brookelynn Cooke."

"Correctamundo," She replied as she opened her office door, and with a sweep of her arm she gestured and pointed for me to enter.

I reluctantly entered. The room had originally been made as a bedroom, but it was transformed into an office for obvious reasons. The closet was wide open and appeared to be filled with a variation of papers, arts-and-crafts supplies, stuffed toys, games, and a few other things that I saw no point in having in a room meant for a counselor's office. Their was a three person couch set across from a small, cushioned chair. The couch was green and under any other circumstances, I would've been tempted to nap on it. As for the chair, it was a bright vibrant red and looked a lot similar to the chair the chair of Mr. Brown's deceased wife from Nanny McPhee. The wall were covered with various posters that ranged from kitty posters that said "Hang in There" to posters about the latest movies.

She took a seat in the red chair and gestured for me to take a seat across from her. I did, however, I did not want to.

"This place seems a little odd for a counselor's room." I commented.

"Oh, and why would you say that? Have you ever actually been in one?" She questioned, she leaned forward in interest, a notebook and pen firmly grasped in hand, ready to take notes.

I shifted in discomfort.

"No," I grunted, "I never exactly showed up to any of my appointments."

"I figured as much." She concluded. "And why did you show up to this one?"

"You caught me in the act of trying to sneak past your office, you know I didn't come willingly." I retorted.

"Actually you did, more so then you will allow yourself to believe." She responded.

"And why would you say that? I was about ready to make a dash for it." I snapped.

"And you could've, but you didn't. Xavier told me you could turn gaseous in an attempt to avoid me, which I wouldn't have been able to stop you in that form. Also, you wear trying to sneak past my door shortly before our secession was about to begin despite have you been home for the past half hour. All of the evidence points to you wanting or knowing you needed to be here, at the very least, your subconscious did." She explained in triumph.

"I do not need to be here. I'm perfectly fine. I don't need your help." I assured her.

"Then why do you sound like you're reassuring yourself more than me?"

I looked at her in shock. Had I been reassuring myself, and not her? No, I didn't need help. I needed to be strong for Shadow. But then why was I even having this conversation with myself? I'd been fine for the past three-and-a-half months. I didn't need a complete stranger nosing their way into my business. But was I really fine? No, I can't think that way. I was fine. I am fine.

"See? You are doubting yourself. You don't think you're "fine", as you put it, after your little break down down in the infirmary." She commented, scribbling some notes on her paper.

My bodily instantly tensed and my guard flew way up.

"How'd you know?" I questioned her warily. "Are you a telepath? Are you reading my mind? Or are you manipulating it?"

"I am not a telepath. I have arbustokinesis." She replied.

"Arbusto... that means bush, plant, forest, or reforest in Latin. You can control plants? Then how'd you know what I was thinking?" I asked, trying to keep my guard up and my curiosity in check.

"I see you are well educated in Latin. As for how I knew what you were thinking, it was written all over your face. I do have degrees in psychology and human mannerisms." She explained. "Now, tell me how you know Latin?"

"My parents taught it to me. They said that almost every language in the world has some Latin in it and it would make it easier to learn other languages when necessary." I explained. "They said that they learned it before they learned English and that it helped them learn the complicated language a little faster."

My thoughts flashed back to a memory of when I was eight and Shadow was six. A Christmas tree stood tall and proud in our living room and presents were flowing from underneath the crowed tree. My family sat around it Christmas morning, our small hands trying to grab the nearest present, but our parents kept us at bay, not allowing our fingers to even grab a single ribbon.

"Sie können nur Ihre Geschenke, nachdem Sie für sie in Latein fragen." My father had told us. (You can only have your presents after you ask for them in Latin.)

"Aber Papa," We cried. "Wir möchten unsere Geschenke!" (But daddy, we want our presents now!)

"Dann fragen Sie in Latein." He replied. (Then ask in Latin.)

"Ut habemus Nativitatis munera nunc?" We asked in Latin with some difficulty. (May we have our Christmas presents now?)

"Ask in English now, and then you can have them." He responded.

"May we have our Christmas presents now?" We begged, growing tired of this exercise. Anything we asked for had to be asked for three times in three different languages.

Our parents finally lowered their blockade and my sister and I each grabbed a gift in triumph.

All of a sudden I snapped back to present time, my fingers pinching a bruise on my right wrist. I had taught myself to do that, whenever I had those flash backs. To pinch and keep on pinching until I brought myself out of it, but this time it had taken longer, and it had taken pinching an already sensitive part of my body to do it.

"Back now are we?" Brookelynn asked, reclining in her chair, seeming unsurprised that I had drifted off.

"Y-yeah." I replied, trying to keep the shakiness out of my voice.

"Hmm, do these happen often? The flashbacks I mean."

"Not really, not as long as I keep my mind active." I replied, surprised by my own openness.

"And you pinch yourself to try and bring yourself back?"

"Yeah, I taught myself that, but it took a little longer to bring myself back this time." I looked away from her.

"And you had to pinch a bruise too." She commented.

"Huh? How'd you know?" I looked at her in confusion. How did she know that? Or that I had been home thirty minutes prior to my attempt of sneaking past her office?

"Simple, everything I know about you I learned from Charles. He told me five minutes before we met that you had been home for twenty-five minutes, and before that, when we first met he told me that you could turn gaseous as well as the fact that you had bruises all over your body from fighting the chains on our wrists and ankles and banging around in your cell. Everything I know about you I have learned from either him, other staff members, mutants, or your sister." She explained.

"Why did you talk to her?" I asked, my guard rising again before I realized I had even let it slip.

"I'm actually not the one who initiated the conversation. She had been looking for me based off a description the Professor had given her. She simply told me that I should do everything I could to help you, especially since you have done so much for her since your parents died." She explained.

I was touched and slightly hurt. Shadow was concerned about me, but she shouldn't have to be. I was the one who was supposed to be watching out for her, not the other way around. I shouldn't need this, but I do.

"Let me see your bruises, nothing personal of course, just the ones that don't require stripping." Brookelynn commanded.

I rolled up my sleeves as high as they could go and I pulled my leggings to the middle of my thigh. The biggest bruises were on my wrists and ankles, but there were some small ones that decorated my legs and arms.

"There are more on my sides and back where I would fall, bang around, or from when I was hit or kicked for misbehaving. The kicking and hitting only happened when Magneto wasn't around, and they aimed for my upper body so he would never see the bruises." I explained.

"And I'm guessing that the small ones are from pinching yourself when you had a flashback."

"Yeah."

"Must've had quite a few, being locked up alone with not much to do."

"Yeah."

I suddenly felt tired. It was as if my body and mind were finally comprehending what had happened.

"Okay, I think we're about done for the day." She commented as she pulled my leggings and sleeves back down.

"We'll have these sessions every other day, and I will send Xavier the list of medications you'll need."

"What? What medications? I'm not sick!" I protested.

"No, but you do have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD for short. It's only because of your care that your sister doesn't have it too." She explained as she walked me out the door.

"See you in a couple of days, and make sure to take your meds. They might make things a little better." She said as a farewell before she shut her door, thus ending our exhausting conversation.

* * *

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

During lunch I looked around for Rosie. The last time I saw her was after her first session with the new counselor, when she went to her room with a beyond exhausted look on her face. She wasn't there when I got up, but I had been woken up by an icicle on the ceiling that had started dripping water on my face, so I could only assume she was alright. Still, I wanted to make sure she was okay. I know my first few therapy session with RoseMarie hadn't been all that easy on me.

My eyes darted around until I saw her sitting at her normal table,working hard on what was most likely make-up work. None of her friends had arrived at her table yet.

I slipped into the seat across from her and sarcastically said, "Thanks for the icicle alarm clock."

She looked up at me.

"Well what did you expect? I had to get to school early to do some make up work and you don't exactly wake up on your own."

I asked the big question now that I had her attention. If I didn't she would've most likely pretended she was so involved in her work that she was deaf.

"So, how was your session last night?"

She rolled her eyes and went to work, but she responded, "It was fine. I was really exhausted towards the end and she put me on medication, but it was fine."

I looked at her in worry and in shock.

"Why medication? You're not sick, are you?"

"No, but I have PTSD. It's supposed to help with some of the symptoms it causes." She responded, shaking me off.

"For how long do you have to take it?" I asked.

She didn't get a chance to respond. Gunfire went off and instinctively everyone laid down on the ground or ran for cover. My sister and I chose the first.

"I want to know where the Leistungsstarke girls are!" A man's voice shouted. "Komm raus du kleine Wichte!" (Come out you little wretches!)

RoseMarie and I adjusted our heads in a certain way so that we could see the man calling us out without him seeing us moves, though we could guess who it was already because of his accent, correct pronunciation, and the sound of his voice.

He wore a dark musty green shirt and blue jeans and brown combat boots and was marching around with a machine gun firmly clasped in his hands. He face was square like, his jaw strong and firm with a small dark beard and mustache. His body was built thick and strong and due to his German skin, he was already turning a few shades darker.

It was none other than our Uncle Getreu.

* * *

**Okay, so just to establish some credibility here (or ethos for you English loving nerds out there), my sister and I been in a counselor's room and they have stuff like that to help put their patients at ease and/or to make the experience more enjoyable (especially for little kids). Also, my sister and I are part German, and while I do not have the rapid tanning skin trait, she does and it is very common in most Germans. Review please!**

**Brain**

**Well I hope you liked it. Please review, and sorry for not updating, we have multiple performances and are extremely busy lately, and we have been sick. Love all who update.**

**Brain**


	9. Chapter 9: My Shield, My Protector

Chapter 9: My Shield, My Protector

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V. 

Oh great, a family reunion. Now all we needed was for Magneto to show up to complete the psychotic ensemble part of our family. How was he here? The court sentenced him to a life in prison, with the death sentence hanging over his head if he was involved in any misconduct.

I honestly didn't have any clue on what to do. RoseMarie always had the answers, but between her break down after waking up and her recently discovered PTSD, I didn't know how well she was taking this, much less if she could think straight. I was too scared to move my head and check on her, afraid my lunatic uncle would notice if I did.

I listened to her breathing, something mom and dad taught us to do to check and see how the other was doing. I listened, struggling to find hers over the sound of everyone else's. When I finally was able to find it, it sounded like she was calm, if not struggling to stay that way. I risked moving my head so that my other cheek touched the ground and I could see her. I could only see the back of her blond head, but her hand gave me the answers I needed. I could only see one of her hands and it was clenched tightly and pressed hard against the concrete.

I had to do something. The least I could do was draw attention to me and maybe lead our uncle on a wild goose chase on a "search" for RoseMarie long enough for help to arrive.

I stood up, raised my hands high up in the air in surrender and shouted, "Onkel zu stoppen! Ich bin hier richtig. Ich weiß, wo RoseMarie. Es gibt keine Notwendigkeit für jeden anderen, zu engagieren." (Stop Uncle! I'm right here. I know where RoseMarie is. There is no need for anyone else to get involved.)

RoseMarie's breath started to sound panicky. She knew what I was trying to do and she didn't like it.

My uncle spun around to face me, a look of rage and discussed on his face.

"I told you not to talk to me in my native tongue, you freak of nature!" He raved.

What happened next was so slow, I would've been surprised I couldn't move if wasn't for the fact my body felt like it was trying to move in gelatin. He raised his gun and fired. I tried to move, but I couldn't do it fast enough. The bullet hit me in my left quad.

Time resumed its normal pace the moment by butt hit the pavement, and instantly I felt pain racing from my leg and throughout my entire body. All I was aware of was pain. The form of a figure was soon over me and doing something to my leg. A cool sensation occurred at the entry point, and the pain lessened. My sister's face became clear and her hands were covered in blood, my blood.

"Shadow, listen, I managed to stop the bleeding and help the blood through your damaged arteries, but it's not a permanent fix. I can't keep your leg frozen like that for long without risking more damage and the bullet is still in there. You are going to need a doctor." She explained. "Just hold on, ok-"

Time slowed again, a look of surprise overcame her face as she fell in slow motion on top of me. Blood started to soak the right shoulder of her shirt.

Time resumed its normal tempo as I whispered/cried her name into her ear in desperation.

"I'm okay." She responded weakly as she managed to push herself back up with her left arm.

"It's just a graze." She said, looking at me with a weak, reassuring smile that wasn't very reassuring.

I looked at her in horror. I was supposed to come to her rescue this time. Why would she never let me be the rescuer?

"Stand up, you miserable brat!" Uncle Getreu shouted at her. "Why would you help such a lowly being?"

He had yet to recognize her.

"RoseMarie, don't." I pleaded.

"Sorry, Shadow."

The looks on the faces of the teenagers around us was pure astonishment and fear. They probably thought we were crazy, and they are probably right.

RoseMarie stood and turned to face our uncle, blood running down her wounded arm.

"Because we are sisters, my dear Uncle, and family members are supposed to try and protect each other." She yelled in response, her voice strong and her fear having appeared to be dissolved. But she was scared. I knew her well enough to see the tiny details that gave it away. She usually hunched both shoulders forward, but right now she only could hunch her left. She shifted her stance in a way that made her appear ready for anything, but it was really her fighting her own flight response. She was scared out of her mind, but she would never abandon me.

"You have poisoned our bloodline! You both must die!" He snapped.

"You forget, Uncle Getreu, your grandfather spoiled your precious bloodline. You share what you call poison in your veins with us!" My sister snapped.

Our Uncle smirked.

"Don't worry, as soon as I have cleansed our bloodline, I will follow you all to the grave!" He cackled and then charged, firing his gun wildly at my sister.

I flinched and closed my eyes, waiting for death to come to me, my sister and all of those who were laying near us.

Cracking sounds filled the air. I opened an eye to see that with her one good arm was raised, bringing an extremely thick wall of ice with it. The wall of ice was peppered with the bullets that had been fired. RoseMarie stumbled for a brief moment before regaining her balance. She was losing too much blood.

"Before you continue to try and play hero, Rosie, how about you give yourself that temporary fix?!" I snapped.

"I can't reach it... it hurts too much to reach for it." She explained, her tone pained.

"And what about not revealing our powers?! How do you think everyone will take to that?!"

"Well, I'm sorry if I just saved your rear end and everyone else's using my powers!" She snapped, staggering even more.

I tried to get up, but I felt my sister's make shift med ice pack crack. Pain forced me back onto my butt, and blood slowly began to trick from the cracked cap.

"You idiot, you can't stand up with that leg, much less fight!" Rosie snapped.

Before I could even ask about her, she started firing blunt blocks of ice at our uncle from out her ice wall, putting new layers on her wall while doing it.

My uncle resumed fire on her, shattering several of the blocks of ice. My sister turned all shards and bricks to water before the could hit and harm anyone on the ground.

Jean Grey P.O.V. 

It was any ordinary day, that is until we heard the gunshots from outside, from the lunch area. Students raced in from the outside and most of the students began to evacuate, all except the student still outside and Xavier's students.

I heard gunfire, shouting, a cry of pain, more gunfire, followed by more shouting.

I burst through the doors and was ready to step in and interfere when plants began to grow around the man, breaking through solid concrete to do so. They traveled up and entwined themselves all around a man's body and forced the gun from his hands. I quickly levitated a small stone and threw it at the back of his skull, knocking him out.

I quickly ran into the lunch area, followed by the other X-Men and met by our newest staff member, Brookelynn Cooke.

"So, I'm guessing you're responsible for the sudden plant life?"

She nodded and looked like she was about to speak, but a cry interrupted her.

"Rosie!"

We looked over just in time to see RoseMarie sway on her feet. Kurt was over there in a flash, catching RoseMarie before she hit the ground. Everyone rushed over to her, to find Shadow laying near her. RoseMarie looked at her sister weakly.

"I-I'm sorry, Shade. I have to thaw the ice on your leg." Her hand shook as she reached for her sister's left quad. Suddenly blood came flowing out of a hole in her leg.

Both blacked out before the ambulances could arrive.

Charles Xavier P.O.V.

I was lucky to have arrived at the school when I did. If I didn't have to go to the nurse with RoseMarie's new medication, I may have arrived at the school much later.

I was able to see that both the girls were safely loaded into the ambulances, and I even reached out and grabbed their hands just to let them know, even if they were unconscious, that things would be alright.

Cameras flashed as they were loaded and driven away, and as soon as they left, I was attacked by reporters who fired questions rapidly.

"Why did that man target those two girls?"

"Who are those young girls? Are they your daughters?"

"Were you aware of the older one's strange abilities?"

"Are they human?"

Logan, who had been pushing my wheelchair, had enough.

"Shut up, you vultures!" He snarled. "He can't answer any of your questions if you don't give him a chance."

They fell silent.

"I was hoping to discuss this with my students before allowing this information to become public, but you all arrived faster than I would've expected." I started. "Those girls who were RoseMarie and Shadow Leistungsstarke, two orphaned sisters that I adopted recently. As for the man who attacked him, he is their Uncle Getreu. He attacked and tried to kill them because they are mutants, and his family is very antimutant. In Germany, they even went as far as to kill mutants that would be born into the family in order to keep it pure."

"What are mutants?" A scrawny reporter to my left asked.

"Mutants have a special mutation in their genes that gives them special gifts, or powers, as RoseMarie demonstrated. There are many of us, some wishing harm to non-mutants, and others wishing coexistence with the human race. Me and my students wish for peace, and we are ready to protect and defend that peace from the mutants who would wish you, and us, harm."

All that could be heard was the scribbling of pens on papers.

"If any leader would like to speak with me, my institute is well known. We have no problem discussing any affairs with any officials, we just ask you don't bring weapons. Being revealed will leave my students scared and in shock, and I don't want any misunderstandings to occur if we are to reach peace." I finished.

Logan pushed me through the crowd and drove me home. We could only hope for the best.

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

I woke up slowly. My eyes reluctant, my brain slow. It took me a minute to process anything.

My eyes slowly opened. The room was white and sterically clean, smelling of disinfectant and rubber gloves. A beeping sound occurred nearby... no... there were two sets of beeping noises. One coming directly to my right, and another coming from my left.

A hospital... why am I here? I struggled to remember why, but then it came to me in painful flashes.

Gunshots, my uncle, he shot me in the leg, and when RoseMarie tried to help me...

I shot upright and screamed, "RoseMarie!"

I scanned the room for my sister. She was to my left where the second steady beeping sound was coming from. Heart monitors, at least I knew she wasn't in danger.

She was still unconscious, even after my loud outburst. Her skin was pale, but that was her own skin tone. I couldn't see much, her blankets were tucked up under her chin, much like mine had been before I abruptly sat up and they fell to my waist. I tried to get up and go to her, but the moment I shifted my left leg. Fire blazed through my leg, I hunched over, gripping the blankets in agony.

"I wouldn't try to get up if I were you." A voice commented.

I looked up at the door way to see a doctor in the door way. She had her black hair pulled into a tight bun, her body was slim, her height was about average, and she wore the stereotypical pristine whit lab coat. She started to head my way.

"I will get you some pain relievers as long as you promise to stay in bed and not try to get up again, okay?" She offered.

I nodded my head, and she went to some cabinets across the room and started to shuffle around through them.

"How is my sister? Will she be alright?" I asked, finally able to find my voice.

She found whatever she was looking for and came to me, unscrewing the bottle to pour out a few pills and handed them to me with a bottle of water. I quickly took them.

"She'll be fine. In fact, she should wake up shortly. It's a miracle you two girls got away in the shape you did. Usually when we get people like you who are targeted by family members, we get them stabbed or shot up beyond recognition. Though I don't know if that applies to you two, being what you are." She commented.

I sense of deep foreboding filled my being.

"The entire worlds knows about us now, huh?" I responded, looking down at the bottom of the bed.

"Yep," she agreed, "Everyone knows about your kind, though all I'm sure all we know is that your kind exist. All we know is that you guys have powers that aren't within a normal human's capabilities."

She got up and put the bottle away, and then turned to leave.

"Well, when your sister wakes up, just press the call nurse button. Someone will come and help your sister with the pain relievers. You're sister will have difficultly using her right arm for a while."

"Wait, what's wrong with her arm?!" I asked in alarm.

She turned back to face me.

"She got shot in her right shoulder. It can't support the weight of her arm for a while, and you'd be surprised how many actions require the use of the muscles in your shoulder. It'll be in a sling until it heals. Hopefully you don't have any crazy relatives determined to purify your bloodline come after you two for a while." She said, leaving the room.

I waited in silence for a few agonizing hours. I began to worry, the doctor said she would wake up shortly. It was all my fault. If only I was stronger, if only RoseMarie didn't have to feel like she had to be my parent, my protector, she wouldn't be like this. Tears started to trickle down my face.

She was always like this, she was passive, she'd let people give her all the crap they wanted to, even hitting her or on her, but the moment someone else was in trouble, she'd have more ferocity than a tiger and she'd take all the hits.

"W-where am I?" A soft voice asked.

I looked over to see RoseMarie's eyes open and looking around. She saw me.

"Shadow, are you crying?" She asked. She tried to give up, only to find she wasn't able to use her right arm.

She fell back down in a cry of pain, leading to another cry of pain. Tears began to streak down her face.

Her sling was fully visible now, and part of her shoulder was visible underneath her hospital gown. Her shoulder was heavily bandaged.

I snapped.

"You idiot! Don't try to get up! This is what you get for always playing hero! This is what you get for not letting people help you! Why can't someone else be the hero, the protector for once?!" I shouted.

"I-I-I..." Before my sister could finish explaining, a timid nurse opened the door.

"I-I'm sorry, but could you two please be quiet? There are other patients on this floor." She requested.

"Yeah, sure." I agreed, stuffing down my anger. "But before you go, can you help my sister? She needs pain relievers and someone to open her bottle of water."

"Sure." She agreed, thankful for my willingness.

She sat my sister up, gave her the pills, and once the pills were in her mouth, she gave her the opened water bottle. Once my sister swallowed, she placed the water on a nightstand next to the bed on the right side, giving my sister easy access to it. She gave me some and then she left.

"They know... don't they? The whole world, that nurse." RoseMarie asked.

"Yeah... I'm sorry I yelled at you, but you need to give being my parent and protector a break. We have Xavier and the others now." I replied.

"I know... but after Uncle Getreu, it's been hard to put complete faith in any one." She responded, looking down at her useless arm. She looked back at me. "How are you feeling? Your leg must feel like crap."

"Yeah, but I had some pain relievers a few hours ago and they haven't entirely worn off, and the new ones will kick in before the others have worn have worn off." I shrugged.

"At least, I'm not going to need help with everything." I teased.

Her face reddened a bit, with either embarrassment or anger, I don't know. Then a smile graced her face.

"I won't be the only one." She retorted. "You'll need someone to carry your textbooks, your lunch, the stairs will be a nightmare-"

"You'll have many of those same troubles, sister." I snorted. "Not to mention, how will you be able to carry your backpack with your shoulder like that? And opening anything?"

We both started laughing and chatting the rest of the day away.

Brookelynn Cooke P.O.V. 

I dialed the number. It started to ring.

How could I even think about doing that to those girls? Now that I saw what kind things those girls have really gone through... I could never do it. Not now, not fully knowing. What kind of creature would I be if I did that to them?

I heard a click as he answered the phone.

"Hello, darling. How is it going?" He asked.

"It's not going." I stated calmly.

"What? What do you mean?" He asked bewildered.

"The operation. The whole operation... I'm calling it off." I replied firmly.

"What?! Why?! Do you have any clue what he-"

"I don't care what Magneto would do! I'm done with all of this. I'm going to use this job to straighten out my life and I won't let you, Magneto, or anybody else harm another hair on either of those girls!" I exclaimed. "Oh, and Dad? Go tell Magneto to go kiss an elephant's arse!"

I angrily hung up. I may have quit this job, but I will never regret accepting the job to kidnap RoseMarie and Shadow.

* * *

**RoseMarie getting shot in the shoulder was a huge debate between me and Brawn, but I won the argument. (Yeah, I'm kind evil and sadistic. )-:) Hope you guys review. Pretty, pretty please! I worked very hard on this. This is about 1,000 more words over my usual word count.**

**~Brain~**

**Technically**** she typed it like this, I just let it slide. But I did yell at her for it. We might start a new story, so stay updated.**

**~Brawn~**


	10. Chapter 10: Friends and School

Chapter 10: Friends and School

Shadow Leistungsstarke P.O.V.

Our hospital stay was almost over, and while that was a relief, it also had a downside. We had to go face the world and find out how they saw us. Yeah, we had everyone in the Institute to tell us, and they said it wasn't all that bad, but it's one thing to listen to it and it's another thing to experience it. Also... none of our non-mutant friends had come to visit us and that didn't exactly assure us.

A slam shook me out of my thoughts. I looked over and saw a book sprawled out on the floor and my sister red with frustration. It had only been five days since we had been shot, and was becoming frustrated at her lack of ability to rapidly adapt to her wounds. She wasn't being patient enough with herself. RoseMarie got off her bed and bent down to pick it up with her left hand. I saw her wince as she went to pick it up, gravity now tugging at her right arm, and thus her wounded shoulder. She sat back on her bed and neither of us said a word.

We would be released tonight at eight, and it was 12:30. That left our friends 8 hours to visit us, visit hours ending at 7:30. Sounds like a lot of time, but was is eight hours compared to the five days they hadn't visited us. If they hadn't come then, why come now?

Pages crinkled, but after a frustrated snort, RoseMarie through the uncooperative book down at the foot of her hospital bed. One o'clock rolled around and she tried again, still no friends. One thirty came, she gave up in frustration again, and again there were no friends. Two o'clock came, and just as I was about to go take my new crutches out for another practice round, when Chloe, Zac, Ming, and a few of my friends from my Track and Field team came marching through our hospital room door.

"Sorry we didn't come sooner, but it took our parents awhile to finally let us visit you. The nurse would only let in six of us, but everyone else is waiting in the waiting room." Zac explained.

RoseMarie and I were in shock for a moment. Luckily we both were in regular clothing, not hospital gowns. RoseMarie was wearing a royal blue t-shirt and black jeans and I wore a tux t-shirt with a red bow tie print and a pair of jean shorts. RoseMarie had been desperately trying to turn to the next page, and I had been in the process of getting out of bed with my crutches. Her sling and my bandaged leg were both clearly visible.

"You guys came!" I exclaimed, the first one over since I was already have way off my bed. RoseMarie quickly set her book down and followed suit.

My team captain, Samantha , and Ming were the first to be tackled in hugs. Well, one half hug and a hug that everyone had to dodge. I nearly hit everyone else with my crutches.

"Of course we came!" Samantha cried indignantly. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Because my sister and I are freaks of nature that the average people of the human race will probably despise?" RoseMarie summed up.

"Doesn't matter to us." Ming commented. "You still are our friends. So, how are you guys feeling."

RoseMarie opened her mouth, probably to say we're fine and crap along that line, but I had to take the first step to placing complete faith in someone besides each other.

"Crappy." I started. "Our entire lives have been turned upside down. The big secret that many mutants have been trying to keep is out, for better or for worse, my sister and I have trust issues thanks to a certain homicidal maniac, plus another crazy relative, I can't get around without crutches, RoseMarie gets frustrated just trying to read a book, she can't shower or bathe on her own, and I can't seem to get her to stop playing mother hen."

Our friends looked stunned. My sister looked about ready to freeze me until the next ice age.

Then my friend Tristen asked, "How can you shower or bathe on your own?"

My other friend, Milley, looked ready to slap him. I wonder if he flirted with her again on the way here.

"I can shower on my own thanks to my incredible balance, and I can't bathe on my own. I prefer showers anyways." I boasted.

"Shadow, why did you-" RoseMarie started.

"Because we need to take a leap of faith. At least I didn't tell them about your other condition. I'll let you decide whether or not to tell. I'll let you choose whether to complete the jump with me, or stay stranded in the middle." I snapped.

I didn't know how this could effect her mentally, but I needed to try and nudge her in the direction she didn't want to take.

Everyone looked at her expectantly, even my friends who didn't know her all that well.

RoseMarie sighed, shot me a glance that was crossed between "I'm gonna kill you for this later" and "thanks", and said, "The day before the shooting I learned that I have PTSD. Sometimes I have flashbacks from before my parents were killed. I'm taking some medication for it."

"What about your kidnapping?" Chloe asked.

"I was kidnapped by my mom's cousin. Together, Shadow and I have a power that can freeze time and kill anyone in the world. He wants us because he wants to wipe out non-mutants, believing that we could never live side by side in peace. My sister and I hate that power and we never want to use it." I explained.

"Dang." Sam whistled.

Zac apparently things were getting a little too creepy and said, "Well, how about your other powers? I heard that ice wall looked really wicked. Care us to show us some fire and ice "magic"?"

We had some fun showing off, and the next group of friends got the same treatment.

It turned out to be a pretty good day... and I got to play hero for once.

* * *

Brookelynn Cooke P.O.V.

I had to tell him at some point, and he was trusting me with picking up the girls... I better tell him now and get it over with.

I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Charles asked on the other side.

"It's Brookelynn. Can I come in and speak with you? It's urgent tell you something before I pick up the girls."

"Of course, come right on in."

The man was so trusting. Magneto and anyone else in the mutant underworld could've come and assassinated him by now, so why haven't they? Or how could they have not succeeded.

I opened the door and Xavier set down the book gently on his desk, turning his full attention to me.

"What is it you need to talk to me about?"

"It's partially about the girls, and mainly about me." I started. "I have a confession. When you originally hired me... I was working for Magneto and my father, Mesmero. I was sent her to capture the two girls, but after the shooting... I just couldn't do it. They have been through so much... I just couldn't cause them more suffering. So, the next time my father called... I told him the job was off and that I was done being a criminal, that I was going to use this job to turn my life around. I know I originally came into your midst as a traitor, but please let me stay and keep this job. I want to help the girls and anyone else that I can. I really do want to turn my life around."

He just sat there taking it all in. He didn't interrupt or get mad. He just sat there, calm and still, listening and being patient.

"I can sense that you are truly earnest." Xavier agreed. "You will be placed under careful watch, but I will not tell the girls. They have been through a lot and I don't want them to stop trusting others again. They have barely started as it is. Is there anything else?"

"Thank you, Professor. As for the other thing... I think it is high time you started treating the girls like daughters. I know you have the whole institute to worry about, but I believe as RoseMarie's counselor that what they need in their life right now is a father figure. Spend some time with just them, get to know them better, earn their trust. They need someone they can go to as a father, not just their teacher and protector." I explained.

He nodded his head.

"I know... I just didn't want them to think I was trying to replace their father."

"Charles... as long as you don't force them to call you dad... I don't think they'll see it that way."

"Thank you, Brookelynn, for both your honesty and for your advice. I believe you need to go pick up the girls now?"

I looked at my watch. Crap, I had to hurry. If I didn't I would be late.

* * *

RoseMarie Leistungsstarker P.O.V.

School just wasn't the same. I almost wish that my uncle had killed me. Almost. I mean, it wasn't like everybody threw trash at me and called me a freak, but anyone who recognized me (which was pretty much everyone, thanks to the news), steered clear of me. It was like I had a force field around me that no one could enter except for other mutants and close friends.

My left hand fumbled pathetically with my locker dial. Kitty had helped me to carry my stuff to my locker, but had to go the bathroom really bad and so dashed off before helping me unlock it and the next person scheduled to help me wouldn't arrive until half-an-hour later and I needed to work on some make up work. Unfortunately, I couldn't even do make up work without someone else writing it for me. Kitty probably had gotten distracted, and so I was stuck here trying to open my locker.

Trying shouldn't hurt, right? I leaned forward and attempted to use my right hand to open the lock, but my shoulder was set on fire in protest and I had to stop.

"Hey, freak! Try opening it with your mind powers!" A voice shouted. Something slammed into my right shoulder and I would collapsed and blacked out from pain if I hadn't leaned on my locker. I almost screamed, but I held it back and was forced to gasp for air. Correction, they were throwing things at me. I looked at the object thrown at me and it was a book titled _Freaks of Nature._ It was a hard cover, 300 paged book.

"Oh my gosh! Rosie, are you okay?!" A voice exclaimed right next to me.

I turned to see Ming.

"Sheesh Ming, it's my arm that's weak, not my ears!" I scolded.

She blushed, "Sorry. I just saw what happened. That's horrible."

"I know," I said, brushing it off, "You're twenty-five minutes early."

"And I see that you're previous helper left even earlier."

"Yeah, Kitty had to go the bathroom and she gets distracted really easy. Probably forgot about me." I shrugged.

"Well, I'll start my shift now. Let me get your locker. What's the combo?"

"27-9."

"Cool. Easy to remember. Just divide the original number by three and you have your second number."

My day was pretty much like that. I couldn't do a lot on my own, I was avoided, and I my sling made everything awkward. Most of my movements were off because my right arm hung in a sling around my neck. Things really sucking right now.

* * *

**Hey, hope you like the update, and we are bringing in a love interest. We like ideas so tell us a name, age, and behavior and your character could be addded, with props to the original creator. Trying to update my story _Secret Life_ but have come upon issues, so I maybe rewriting it. Please send your love threw reviews.**

**~Brawn~**

**Seriously, please review. Let us know anything you might like to see and I'll try fitting it in.**

**~Brain~**


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